Naruto Uzumaki and the Assassin of the Mist
by kvsyaoran
Summary: Book 2: Naruto, Harry, and Team 7 set out on an adventure: A mission to protect the bridge-builder Tazuna from a dangerous man known only as Zabuza, the Demon of the Hidden Mist. From here on out; battles will be fought, comrades will fall, loyalties are tested, and secrets will be unraveled
1. The Start of a New Adventure

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/ Inner Sakura

'_Blah_': Naruto's Thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

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><p><strong>Naruto Uzumaki wants nothing more than a challenge in his missions. Being a genin student under Kakashi Hatake, along with his new teammates Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, Naruto and his team are expected of so much less than what they deserve as all their missions are nothing more than menial tasks. But all of that is about to change as they are given the task to bodyguard a grumpy old man, known as the Bridge-Builder in the Land of Waves.<strong>

**As Naruto and his friends set out on their quest to the land of sea and fog, they run into a mysterious mist where fresh torments and horrors arise from out of it. Turning their supposedly simple mission to ensure one old man's safety soon turns into a quest for survival as the fate of an entire land falls upon the shoulders of each member of Team 7.**

**And out of the mist comes forth a new enemy and a person that causes Naruto to question the very reason why he became a shinobi.**

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><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto,**

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling,**

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><p>Chapter 1: A Brand New Life<p>

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><p>{{<em>Prologue Book IIHarry Through the Window by John Williams_}}

As the evening sun began to fall down past the mountains in the distance, it's powerful rays of orange light descended upon the forests and buildings that comprised the entire village of Konohagakure no Sato. The famous village that was built upon a barren wasteland that grew a massive and endlessly rich forest around it that stretched on for miles, spreading out through the whole country. As the village slowly began it's journey to settle down with the sun, the rays of powerful tangerine light fell upon the endless woods and blanketing it with a last burst of heat before it would slowly start to cool. It was summer, which was a time of hot days and chilled nights.

As twilight approached, the shinobi of the village began to return to their homes from long and arduous missions that involved them leaving their families and friends to wonder and worry over them. As the sun was beginning to fall down upon the western horizon, shinobi husbands reunited to their wives and children as rookie ninja came back home to their worried parents and were treated with care and comfort. One particular boy walked back home from a long day of missions without anyone there at his apartment to greet him. While this would normally be a sad sight to see, the boy seemed happy and contented as he walked around his enraged apartment manager and locked himself behind his door.

Once there, he dropped his beaded backpack on the floor and detached all of his accessories, including his weapon-holsters, pouch, and headband. He wrapped the jacket of his orange and blue tracksuit around his waist while the walked into his bedroom and over to his desk. As the sun finally fell behind the mountains and forests and darkness enveloped the village, the young boy promptly turned on his lamps with a click of his fingers. And as if it were through magic, the lamp that hovered over his desk switched on as the lights of the city outside began to light up as well. The child then grabbed a red-leather bound book from his shelve in front of him and opened it up as he smiled and sighed with delight.

Naruto Uzumaki had returned to his home, alive and well from a day of laborious missions.

He looked down at the pages that were lined with old photographs of his memories and people related to his past. Naruto flipped a page and found his mother sitting there with him as a baby no older than a few weeks, give or take a few days. Naruto's eyes turned glassy as he smiled warmly at his mother and watched as she cradled him and smiled up at the camera. Naruto flipped to the next page and found a new photograph of himself and his older brother, Iruka Umino, smiling at the camera with twin facial expressions. Iruka had his arm wrapped over Naruto in a hug as they both closed their eyes at the flash of the camera while they both smiled and showed off their wonderful sets of pearly-white teeth. Despite their different skin tones and hair color, these two shinobi looked as if they had known each all their lives and were just messing around and having the time of their lives, which they were when this picture was taken.

Naruto ignored the sounds of busy villagers and barking dogs from outside as he reminisced over the wondrous past few months, ever since Naruto found out that he was somewhat adopted by someone. He couldn't even remember when he was this happy outside of the mindscape. Not even the time when he graduated from the Academy did he feel this free and at peace.

While he was reminiscing about the past, Naruto's blissfulness was stopped when he heard someone call out his name in blood murder.

"NARUTO UZUMAKI!"

The boy sighed and furrowed his brow when his name was screamed out. It sounded like his landlord wanted something this time, instead of just wanting to bully, harm, or belittle him. For having interrupted his time alone to relax and admire his photo collection, Naruto grunted angrily and cursed at his landlord's name. He closed the album and stored back in the shelf before he aggressively pushed his chair back and answer the call. He heard the Toshi's fat fist strike against the door over and over until he opened it. He looked up to see his overweight landlord towering over him with a cigarette in his mouth. Naruto covered his nose from the smoke and entered the hallway.

"You need something, Toshi?" he asked.

Toshi hacked and coughed before he spat out, "I have a bone to pick with you, Uzumaki. For the past three nights, I hear you movin' around in your apartment. Like there's a hundred of you workin' on somethin', and I don't like it. Not one bit! It's like you're workin' on some crazy science experiment or somethin'! I want you to cut it out or I'm doublin' your rent this month!"

With that said, Toshi threw Naruto back into his apartment and slammed the door so hard that it almost broke off its hinges. Naruto growled at his landlord, steam almost billowed from his nostrils as he picked himself up and realized his situation. He slowly calmed down as the loud footsteps of his manager began to fade until he was back downstairs. Once he was definitely gone, Naruto went back to his room and got undressed from his tracksuit and got ready to take a shower as he stunk almost as much as his landlord.

The reasons for Toshi and a whole lot of people disliked Naruto like this was because he contained a powerful demonic animal spirit called the Kyuubi no Kitsune; the demon fox that nearly destroyed the village twelve years ago. The Yondaime Hokage sacrificed his life to seal the demon away into Naruto's navel and save the village from oblivion. He also did it to make Naruto a hero for having taken him away from his mother after being born and placed the burden of being a jinchuuriki on him against his will. But instead of seeing him as a savior to the people, the majority of the villagers and shinobi saw Naruto as a living plague, because he contained the monster that almost destroyed everything they held most dear to them.

Toshi particularly hated him because his business as an apartment manager was almost completely destroyed ever since the Council of Elders forced him to rent to Naruto. The other people that used to live in this apartment building decided to flee to other places to live, since they couldn't stand living under the same management as the village freak. Toshi ended up losing a lot of money with giving Naruto an apartment here, even though the elders provided him proper compensation for his lost rents. But ever since Naruto graduated from the Academy, the council stopped paying him and he lost even more money.

'_**Too bad for you, eh, Little one?**_' said a soft voice in Naruto's head, '_**Let's be careful in our step when we're up in the middle of the night making potions, eh?**_'

'_Looks like I gotta work better on keeping quiet when I'm walking around my kitchen._'

'_**Might I suggest that you use something to soften your feet? Some socks maybe?**_'

'_Socks? I don't own any of those. I don't even have shoes! I just wear zori sandals, Nii-san!_'

'_**Yeah, well, try a Cushioning Charm on your feet. That might work...**_'

The demon fox inside of Naruto's body wasn't the only thing that usually concerned him. Because he contained something inside his body that he connected with better than some giant, violent animal. Naruto contained the soul of a man named Harry Potter; a deceased wizard who was responsible for finally ending the Second Wizarding War. At the end of the war, Harry was mortally wounded. He had meant to keep his soul Earth-bound, to stay with his friends and family. But instead, the attempt to stay alive failed and he was forced to serve in purgatory until he escaped and was sucked into Naruto's body, turning him into a wizard as he once was. Eventually the two crossed paths and they learned to live and learn together as two souls trapped in one body.

Throughout the years Harry and Naruto grew as close as family and kept their abilities and Harry's existence a complete secret from everyone in the entire village, including the current Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Together the two wizards secretly worked to make sure Naruto would be able to survive in this world by learning magic as well as ninjutsu, while at the same time making it seem that Naruto would be the last person to suspect of any unusual activities. Since the village already hated him so much, they would just use his true intelligence and remarkable abilities as an excuse to say that he's too dangerous to be kept alive. Harry helped Naruto to purposely fail at almost all of his subjects in school to make him truly seem as if he were just another class dobe. With a reputation as an average idiot, no one in the village suspected Naruto of any of the mysterious library thefts that took place several years ago.

Naruto was not happy with his reputation and false attitude, but he didn't mind it too much, as he would soon be able to drop the mask once he was given more difficult and life-threatening missions: the sort of assignments that would allow him to show off his true colors. But even that time for him seemed out of reach with all the menial D-Rank missions he and his team were given lately.

'_Tonight..._' Naruto said to Harry as he walked back into his bedroom and ducked under his bed for the loose floorboard, '_I think this time I can finally succeed in creating a real potion to help me if I'm ever in danger on a mission..._'

He removed the loose floorboard and reached in to pull out various containors full of strange liquids and powders. Naruto pulled out a dozen jars and carried them with him to the kitchen to hide in his cabinets.

'_I've got the ingredients and some substitutes to the ones I can't find here in this world..._'

'_**Again, I can't be entirely sure that that blue powder in jar labeled No. 3 will even work...**_'

'_We have to try, Nii-san. Otherwise we'll never find out..._'

'_**Very well... But let's be careful, shall we?**_'

'_It's a done deal._'

'_**Don't forget to charm your feet, Little one.**_'

'_I know._.. _I know..._'

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><p>{{<em>Norbert by John Williams<em>}}

Later that night, as the landlord and his dysfunctional family slept in peace, Naruto was up and about while he was busy hovering over his cauldron placed over-top his stove. He had the pewter cauldron moved over it and blasted the gas-fueled fire to maximum. He had already added the substitute Flobberworm mucus as his starting base and already added most of the ingredients that he had purchased and found that shared the same qualities as those found normally in the magical world. So far, the potion was reacting as it should be and the ingredients from _The Jungle Brought to You_ worked perfectly. Naruto added a few lionfish spines to the dull-blue mixture and watched as the potion slowly turned a different color with each fish spine he added.

Naruto reached out for a stirring rod and started to mix the radioactive-green mass while he popped open a small bottle and added another liquid to it that looked like mud, making the potion bubble and fizz like crazy. Naruto quickly decreased the heat, turning it purple. The contents settled down some before Naruto reached back behind him and held a jar of clunky blue powder, labeled No. 3, that he cautiously held it over his glowing cauldron. It was a good thing that he closed the blinds on his windows before he started, otherwise someone could see the constantly changing glow coming from his home. He waited and started to sweat a little when he wasn't sure if he should pour any of the blue powder in yet.

'_**Be very careful, Little one... This was the substitute for the Mandrake juice we need for this potion... I won't lie to you, if it doesn't work, that potion might explode...**_'

Naruto hesitated and then gulped, '_Let's hope it's worth the risk..._'

The boy's hands grew very sweaty and the jar almost fell from his hand. But Naruto gasped and grasped the jar fast and careful. His hands trembled and he froze when he saw a few samples of powder tip out of the jar and fall into the cauldron. To Naruto's amazement, the potion changed color, as it would be expected when Mandrake juice was added. He added a few more morsels and the color continued to change. He then poured in the contents he was required to compensate for the lost Mandrake and held his breath as the contents bubbled like mad until they slowly settled and thickened into a thick green substance.

Naruto turned off the heat of his stove and smelled the contents. He smelled a bittersweet fragrance that caused his eyes to water a little. He reached back for a spoon he had laid out at his little under-the-sink laboratory and slowly dipped it into the liquid. He scooped some of the potion out of the cauldron and gasped as he saw the utensil there in his hands, in the same condition it was under before he dipped it in. Harry inspected the spoon from his view in the mindscape and reached out to feel if it was right. Naruto felt the magical surge of energy that was his brother's touch make contact with the spoon and the potion. And once he was finished and the strange sensation faded out of the child's arm, Harry clapped his hands in applause.

'_**Success! Your Wiggenweld potion is perfect! Substitutes in the world of shinobi are just as good as those in the magical world!**_'

Naruto silently jumped up in the air in victory, and noiselessly cheered in the same manner. He then danced like a complete dork when he was so proud that his theory on brewing potions was correct. He continued to hum and dance to himself even while he poured the contents of his Wiggenweld Potion into phials and special storage jars he also bought from _The Jungle Brought to You_. He placed each of his containers of healing potion into his refrigerator as well as in his beaded backpack on the kitchen table.

'_Yes! Yes! Yes! Now whenever I'm on a mission and if one of us gets hurt, no problem! Wiggenweld potion is a number one healing brew!_'

Once he finished storing away his secret stash of lotions and potions, he continued to jump and dance in celebration, not worried about making noise, seeing as he still had time before his Cushioning Charm would wear off. But once he was finished, he decided to clean out his cauldron with a few simple charms and then get ready for bed. Naruto looked over to his clock and noticed that it was already nearing one o'clock in the morning. Upon that realization, drowsiness kicked in and the desire to collapse and shut down for the next several hours hit him like a train. Naruto quickly finished up and put his cauldron back under his cabinet and carried his potion ingredients with him to his bedroom where he hid them away underneath the old floorboard where several of his personal items were kept hidden.

Without another thought or action to distract him and keep him up late, Naruto collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep.

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><p>{{<em>The Burrow by John Williams<em>}}

The following morning, Naruto woke up at the same time as yesterday, only this time he felt dead-tired and there were bags under his eyes. He stretched his muscles and clicked his bones before he pushed his blankets to the side and crawled over to his window. He reached out and pulled the window out to another beautiful morning in Konoha. He opened his window wide, letting in a pleasurable breeze of fresh forest air to rush in and wake him up. The bright morning sun blazed into his eyes from the eastern sky, causing him to rub his eyes and reopen them to the lively city below him. Naruto took in a deep breath of fresh air and sneezed before he looked out into the city and watched the people move out and about; men and women going to work, young children getting ready for school and racing each other, and elderly citizens taking walks and talking of memories past.

Naruto looked up to the sky and admired how beautiful and clear the skies were today, blended with a few white clouds that scattered across the sky for miles, constantly changing shapes and creating images for anyone who wished to lay back and stare at them all day, primarily Shikamaru. Once Naruto had enough early morning admiration, he turned away, closing the window and got ready for the rest of the day. He ate a simple breakfast of cereal and toast, took a shower, brushed his teeth, and dressed into a clean orange and blue tracksuit. He slipped on his sandals and gathered the headband that Iruka had gifted to Naruto for graduating from the Academy. Naruto wore it proudly, even though it would occasionally irritate his scarred forehead.

Once he was all gathered and prepared, Naruto jumped out of the window of his bedroom, not wishing to confront Toshi about the rent again.

{{_Introducing Colin/The Howler by John Williams_}}

Naruto ran through the streets of his village, slipping past the growing crowds of people who all shot him nasty glares. He turned several corners and ran down a number of different streets until he arrived at his teams meeting place: at the bridge over by the village reservoir, the one that had the red arches. Once Naruto arrived, he was met by one of his two teammates, Sakura Haruno, still just as vibrant and flowery as she was since the first day he met her, despite her unusually hot temper. Naruto gasped when he saw her and blushed happily once he realized Sasuke had not yet arrived; giving him the opportunity he had been waiting for. He slowly made his way over to Sakura, walking confidently with a swing in his step. Naruto tried his best to act cool in front of her and make his move to maybe at last get to know her on a more personal level.

'_Maybe I can get her to go on a date!_' he thought excitedly, '_Time for the old Potter family charm to kick into gear for this Uzumaki!_'

Harry moaned and hit himself in the head when he heard his little brother say that through his thoughts and tried his best not to start gagging. The older wizard despised Sakura for obvious reasons; she was snobbish, loud, rude, hypocritical, pretentious, and selfish down to the bone. He kept asking himself why Naruto even liked her, seeing as she didn't like him in return and treated Naruto as if he were some mutated freak. But Harry kept on answering his question with the fact that Naruto was attracted to Sakura's fair attractiveness, such as her jade-green eyes and her vibrant pink hair, as well as her impressive ability to memorize almost anything that was presented to her. Harry could do nothing except perhaps smother himself with a pillow while this scene played out.

"Hey there, Sakura-chan!" greeted Naruto kindly.

Sakura turned to her teammate, but she sighed and rolled her eyes when she saw him, "Hello, Naruto."

"So," he slid over to the stone railing of the bridge and talked to Sakura while he tried to act cool, "It's a lovely morning today! It's an excellent way to start off the summer, don't you think?"

The pink-haired girl rolled her eyes again, furrowing her eyebrows and had just mumbled something rude while she kept looking around for someone else. She didn't even care about what Naruto had to say as she kept on waiting for their other teammate to arrive.

"You know," started Naruto again, "It's around this time of year, the legends say that the phoenix arrives from the sun to spread their wings and bring their fortune to the downtrodden and-"

"SASUKE-KUN!" she suddenly cried out.

Naruto jumped at her outburst and looked over to the other side of the bridge to see his archrival walking at a steady pace to the meeting spot along with Sakura and Naruto. Sasuke looked just the same as he did when he graduated from the Academy. He wore the same blue and white clothes, had the same hair, and the same bad attitude that made Naruto wonder why Sakura even liked someone as unlikeable, egotistical, and cold as Sasuke Uchiha. The heir to the most illustrious shinobi clan in the village approached Naruto and rudely pushed him to the side to stand where Naruto was standing a few moments ago.

"What was _that_ for?" he grunted and growled.

Sasuke looked at Naruto with those same calculating black eyes of his and said, "You were in my spot, dobe. I don't have to be the one to tell you that."

"I don't see your name written on it, teme!" he said back.

The Uchiha looked at him and said back angrily, "Why don't you pick another spot to wait? You know, be a dobe somewhere else?"

"Why don't you just come to terms that you got such a pole shoved right up your-"

Sakura looked displeased and growled at her blonde teammate just before he finished his statement and bopped him on the head with a fist like rock, "_KNOCK IT OFF, NARUTO-BAKA!_"

Naruto rubbed and caressed his bruised up head, as Sakura's attention was fixated on her number one crush. Naruto sighed when she saw hearts in her eyes at the sight of her beloved. Meanwhile, Sasuke forgot about his quarrel with Naruto and leaned his back against the railing to brood and ignore Sakura while she tried to start a conversation with him.

This was one thing that _really_ got in the way of this dream-team that Harry caught on right away. This team was not compatible for each other and mixed together unhealthily. Sasuke was a dark and arrogant genin that loved to put Naruto and everyone else below him, and he captured Sakura's attention and affection completely. Naruto liked Sakura a lot and actually cared for her, while Sasuke had her under his shinobi-spell of attraction, while she herself hated Naruto just as much as she hated every other Sasuke-fangirl. It made the team unbalanced and unable to cooperate properly. Their teamwork test given to them a few months ago proved this failure, and the fact that they were able to pass was a complete fluke. It was only after they understood the concept and importance of teamwork did they finally set their differences aside and pass. But given the circumstances and risks at the time of their test, it was only temporary as they went back into their usual habits once it was over. It seemed to Harry that they would not be capable of good teamwork and full cooperation unless their lives, dreams, and hopes for the future were threatened.

The genin team waited for over an hour and a half until their sensei finally arrived. When he got there he watched as Naruto was fuming at Sasuke while Sakura kept talking to him and even stole the premise of Naruto's earlier conversation about phoenix legends, only she changed them on the spot and tried to make a metaphor of love. Sasuke looked over at Naruto on occasion, feeling annoyed that he kept on glaring at him and decided to glare back at him, just like they did when they were in school together; enemies from the start.

"Hello and good morning, you guys!" a voice called from above.

The children looked up as their suave and immensely cool jounin instructor as he jumped down from the same archway he appeared each and every morning they met up like this. Kakashi Hatake landed in front of them as if he had teleported, leaving a trail of fallen leaves in his wake as he greeted his students kindly and read up on his current volume of Icha-Icha Paradise.

"Sorry I'm late again, but these children were trapped in a fire downtown and I had to be the one to save them!" he explained.

Naruto beamed to his sensei as he was an admirer of heroism, "I could believe that one!"

"YOU LIAR!" screamed Sakura, "That's the worst excuse you've ever come up with EVER!"

The pink-haired menace considered Kakashi's constant tardiness to be intolerable. Meanwhile, her beloved Sasuke looked just as bored and uninterested as usual. He just mumbled that Kakashi was being a poor example of a jounin instructor for arriving late and making lies like he was some child.

Kakashi stopped joking but eye-smiled anyway, "At least one person can take a little joke. C'mon gang, let's get to it!"

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><p>(Fake dramatic logo scene)<p>

TV-TOKYO & WARNER BROS. PICTURES Presents.

**Naruto Uzumaki and the Assassin of the Mist**

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><p>To Be Continued...<p>

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><p><strong>We're BACK, baby!<strong>

**I'm glad to be back and writing again, I've actually decided to take a while off from writing after I posted the final chapter of the first book so I could go on vacation. It was fun going to the east coast; with the exception of the beach I went to had the worst police force imaginable! My cousins and I weren't allowed on the boardwalk late at night. It really sucked since they threatened to arrest us if we didn't clear off. But oh well, no point in getting all worked up over a bunch of idiots that abuse their power. I still had a wonderful time and a fantastic break to recharge my batteries!**

**Let's see... what to inform... I guess I should start that I'm going to correct a few things with my other stories while I go along with the series from here. Meaning, I will keep writing AotM and when I reach CE you guys may as well re-read that as I'm going to correct the grammar and paragraph setup. I felt that Chunin Exams was a bit too scattered and messy. I MIGHT change up one or two fights or put a song or two out, but I'm still debating over this with Azeroth44. For now, I'm just going to be correcting the grammar and paragraph setup. After CE is finished at last, I'll move on to the Legendary Sannin as fast as I can. That's been a real problem story for me, but I'm finally getting it fixed up and ready to start posting. I can't wait to get started! It's going to be EPIC!**

**As for the usual commentary that supposed to be here, Azeroth44 is a bit busy with a story adoption and hasn't been all that available. We'll get started with commentary again next chapter though.**

**But before I leave, if you leave behind a review, I would like to hear your opinion on Bellatrix's Lestrange's demise in Deathly Hallows Part 2. Whether it made you laugh, cheer, or cry (if you were a fan of Bellatrix) I would like to hear that! If you don't want to, you don't have to, you're still a wonderful human being anyway! :)**


	2. The Bridge Builder

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/ Inner Sakura

'_Blah_': Naruto's Thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

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><p><strong>Okay... Before we start, has anyone ever heard of the $1000 bagel? The Westin New York at Times Square, in New York City, there is actually a bagel some dude created that has<strong> **white truffle cream cheese, goji berry jelly and gold leaves sprinkled on top.** **WTF! Gold leaves on a freaking bagel? Are you f***ing insane? Why would anyone want to EAT solid gold?**

**AZ44: Because you feel richer when you shi-**

**Kvsyaoran: Keep your answers PG-13, dude!**

**AZ44: Still, why bring this up?**

**Kvsyaoran: I dunno, I can't think of anything else to discuss this time around.**

**Deadpool: Here's what I have to say to that! (Whips out pistol and shoots the $1000 bagel until the plate is nothing but ash) Heehee! I just waste a thousand bucks! HA!**

**Kvsyaoran: ... I was going to return that...**

**Deadpool: Oh... Well this is awkward.**

**Naruto: Get the hell out of my seat and let's start the show!**

**Kvsyaoran: Okay, I got the chips and pop. Let's get this storted!**

**AZ44: Don't you mean 'started'?**

**Kvsyaoran: Whatever! Let's get it on!**

**AZ44: Are you coming on to me?**

**Kvsyaoran, Naruto, & Deadpool: SHUT UP!**

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><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto,**

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling,**

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><p>Chapter 2: The Bridge Builder<p>

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><p>It was sometime in the late morning when the first scream echoed out deep in the forest around the northern end of the village. It was the place where the trees grow wilder than normal and where ravenous animals were known to thrive and relish in the seemingly endless fields of forest life. When the first scream sounded of that of a girl, a swift, shadowy figure zoomed through the trees, hiding in bushes and piles of fallen leaves. The forms of three twelve year old genin swiftly followed the figure as stealthily as they could, hiding behind trees and making as little noise as possible.<p>

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura created a triangular formation around the figure once it found itself a comfortable bed of grass and leafs. It kept on jumping from one place to the next as it could barely sense the genin team pursuing it. It was when it had changed positions and flew right past Sakura's face did she let out a scream of surprise and set the animal on edge. Harry cursed at the girl, even though no one but Naruto could hear him, as Sasuke cursed out loud, and Sakura tried to pin the blame on Naruto for having not taken her original position.

Once the three genin were in the triangular position mentioned earlier, the three of them stationed right there as Naruto could see the animal walk around in circles and get nestled into a nice, soft spot on the ground to rest. Naruto and the others were all wearing wireless radios so that they may stay in constant communication and finally capture the creature they had been searching for hours. Harry often scoffed at the use of technology, since he never even had to use any such device throughout his entire life. Muggle technology was either primitive or pointless while he had magic to back him up. Naruto ignored his older brother and listened to Kakashi's soft voice call out to all three of his students.

"How far away is the target?" he asked.

Naruto looked around the tree once more before going back behind the tree and remaining silent and still, "Five meters... I'm ready..."

"I'm in position," said Sasuke from a treetop.

Sakura looked from under the fallen tree she was hiding behind and said, "Me too!"

"Alright! GO!"

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all jumped from their positions and attacked the creature they were perusing. Naruto was in the lead and actually jumped and tackled the creature that turned out to by a slightly large ginger-tabby crossbred cat. Naruto lightly and carefully tackled the creature and immediately started cooing it as Sasuke and Sakura stopped dead in their tracks and watched as Naruto began to play with the animal. The cat actually looked excited to see Naruto and started patting at his face with claws retracted back into his soft and lovable paws. The cat purred and meowed playfully as Naruto pinned it to the ground and played with him.

"Tora-chan! Who's the good little kitty? You are! Who's a good Captain Meow? Meow-meow! Meow-Meow!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and Sakura tried to look away after she looked for the identification for the lost pet of the daimyo, the red ribbon tied around the cat's right ear. Once confirmed she fully looked away as the cat started pouncing on Naruto and licking some breakfast residue on his face, tickling him. The blonde-haired genin laughed as the cat felt more comfortable with this random wizard than it's actual owner. No doubt, the cat must have been attracted to his welcoming magical aura just as many animals were. It was one of the reasons why Naruto always scored so high on all of his simulated-Care of Magical Creatures lessons.

"Sasuke? Sakura? Do either of _you guys_ have confirmation on the cat's identity?" sounded Kakashi's voice though all the headsets.

The Uchiha answered their sensei saying, "Yep! The red ribbon tied around the cat's right ear is confirmation enough."

"Then good job to all of you! Mission to retrieve the lost pet of Madame Shijimi accomplished. Let's head back to the Mission Assignment Desk and get started on another mission!"

Naruto pet and stroked the cat even while he stood up from the ground and walked alongside his teammates as the headed to the mission desk with their sensei.

* * *

><p>Team 7 entered the old Ninja Academy at the top floor in an area that Naruto and the other former students were forbidden to enter. But now, since Naruto and the others had graduated and become genin, they were allowed and obligated to enter this area, seeing as they were assigned their missions here. They entered through a large sliding door and entered a huge, wide-open space with a magnificent wooden floor-work. The floor was finely polished to the point where someone could see their own reflection with the exception of a few smudges caused by incoming shinobi and clients. There were six large windows across the room that led out to a balcony at the top floor of the Academy that really let in the light and shined brightly against the polished wooden floors. The ceiling was quite high above the heads of our heroes with two stick-like lights to bring out a confident and inspiring aura around all those shinobi that entered. The ceiling also had the kanji for shinobi placed in between the two lights for decorative purposes.<p>

Naruto looked to the other side of the room and saw a long table where the Hokage and other shinobi were sitting, distributing mission assignments and receiving payment from clients of all shapes and sizes. On the front of the desk, there was a white banner with the kanji that said in dark lettering, "Mission Assignments Here" and there was another banner on the ceiling above the first one that said, "Everybody, Do Your Best". The reasons for this room being made forbidden for Academy students to enter became obvious, as this place was more spotless than a five-star restaurant. Since this was a place where people from all over the world came for assistance from some of the most reliable and highly talented shinobi in the world. The village would have to leave a good impression to their guests and clients if they wanted to stay in business. It only made sense that they would deck out this area and go out of their way to keep it in tip-top shape.

From across the room, Naruto spotted Iruka sitting down next to the Hokage, assisting him with sorting out missions to different teams. Iruka looked up when he sensed a familiar presence entering the chamber and smiled at his little brother upon spotting him. Naruto smiled back as well but soon he jumped when a woman close to the assignment desk screamed out in joy towards his general direction.

"TORA-CHAN!" she screamed out at Naruto.

The boy looked up from his cat to see an immensely fat old woman wearing an elaborate brown-bun wig and a brilliant set of robes with dark colors of pink, purple, and lavender that flowed all around her, giving her the look of a melting iced cake. She wore a lot of makeup, particularly over her cheeks and eyes to give the appearance of looking much younger than she actually was. Before she even spotted Naruto nestling and stroking her contented kitten, she was busy putting rouge on her already scarlet cheeks. She ran towards Naruto as fast as her stubby legs could push her and grabbed the cat from his reluctant grasp. The cat meowed unpleasantly as the woman's stubby fingers, which were adorned with several gaudy rings, grabbed him. The cat screeched as he was taken away from Naruto, who seemed a much better owner than this woman, Madame Shijimi. Tora screamed when the daimyo's wife almost squeezed the life out of him. Naruto could literally _see_ the pain in the poor creature's eyes that almost made him want to steal the cat away from Shijimi and take it home with him instead.

But Harry restrained him and all he could do now was watch as the poor cat had to bare the burden that was an smothering pet owner.

"Aww... poor Captain Meow..." Naruto sighed.

Sakura said as well, "With an owner like that, can you blame that thing for running away from home...?"

Team 7 watched as Shijimi squeezed her cat again, rubbing her makeup-stained cheek against Tora's in a most uncomfortable way possible. She kept on cooing her cat and telling him how worried she was when she found out that he ran away again. As she kept on smothering Tora, she walked up to the payment desk and paid for the services she asked for. As Kakashi walked up to the man in charge of handling the money, Naruto kept watching as poor Tora was taken away back to his home in the great castle of the country's capital. Tora kept on meowing for Naruto padding his paw at the boy who could only sniffle and wave the cat goodbye until he would have to track him down again in the future.

Soon, Hiruzen Sarutobi coughed and gained the attention of Team 7 as he held up a list of clients around the village that needed their help. He took in a puff of smoke on his old pipe and wiped several fallen ashes from his white and scarlet robes and then emptied his pipe clean of those loose ashes. He sorted out a number of different scrolls in from of them, all of them labeled with a different letter of the alphabet from A to D and occasionally the letter S.

He started with, "Team 7's next assignment will be... let's see... babysit elder Koharu's three-year old grandson... help elder Homura's wife with shopping for groceries... picking out potatoes for the local farms..."

With every menial task announced after another, Naruto began to slump and tilt his head towards the floor as he felt his body sink down. But he soon recovered before he made a spectacle of himself and stood up straight after the Hokage was finished with the list of assignments that Naruto and the rest of his team would be allowed to do for the day. Kakashi stood up straight and began to ponder as to which assignment they should do first, but was having a bit of trouble deciding. Sasuke just rolled his eyes at the list of missions, as he wanted to do something that involved fighting or proving how strong and powerful he was. Sakura didn't really care about getting a more difficult mission, as she just wanted to take something that wasn't too physically demanding. All she wanted to do was something easy or something that would require her intellect, so that she could impress Sasuke or even get to talk to him.

Naruto, however (once he stood up), he walked over to the mission's desk and stood right before the Hokage with a normal smile on his face. This gesture surprised the old man and Iruka as well.

"Hokage-sama?" he asked in a kind voice.

Sarutobi was taken aback as Naruto addressed to him so much formal respect. Iruka and several others were also very surprised.

Hiruzen coughed, "Yes, Naruto-kun? What is it?"

Naruto suddenly slammed his knees to the ground, causing an almost loud boom and put his arms up high above his head before joining his hands together in prayer. He closed his eyes and caused fake-comical tears to flow down his face as he begged to the Hokage like a hopeless beggar. Iruka raised his brow, Sarutobi bit down on his pipe, and the other people at the desk jumped and outraged at Naruto's unpredictable behavior.

"Please!" he cried, "Will you please just give us more of a challenge, Grandpa! I mean for crying out loud we're supposed to the shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato, not the boy scouts of London!"

'_He's actually got a point for once..._' thought Sasuke.

Sakura growled and held back from punching Naruto, '_He is such a stupid brat!_'

'_What the hell is London?_' thought Kakashi.

"_Please!_" the boy emphasized, "I even called you Hokage-sama back there! Can't you just give us a mission that actually requires us to leave the front gates for a change? Go to a distant village, protect a princess, or go on an epic adventure! I've been a good ninja! I deserve to get a good ninja mission!"

The old Hokage coughed loudly in order to get Naruto to quiet down and furrowed his brow at him for acting so ridiculous in front of over ten or so special clients. Iruka gestured for Naruto to tone it down a huge notch as he pointed in the direction of the clients just entering and received a bad first impression. Naruto looked behind him briefly to see several rich and dignified people look at him with confused expressions and half-raised eyebrows. Naruto apologized for his outburst and stood up straight.

Iruka said to him with reason, "Naruto. You can't just dive into danger just when you're starting out! I told you before; you're still a rookie genin! You start out with grunt work to build up experience!"

"But babysitting and picking up groceries for the elderly doesn't count as a mission!" the blonde child argued, "It's just a bunch of pointless chores-OWW!"

Kakashi had walked up to Naruto and bopped him on the head hard enough to get him to stop ranting before he even began. Naruto started rubbing his head lightly as Kakashi's bop to the head wasn't even close to the ones he got from Sakura. His bop didn't cause a swell mark to form, but that's not to say that it didn't hurt.

"That's enough, knuckle-head..."

Sarutobi sighed, "It seems that you still do not understand what the missions are all about, Naruto... Many different missions are given to us each day, ranging from babysitting to assassinations. We take those variously ranged missions and sort them into the four-five basic rank levels..."

The Sandaime Hokage went on about and explained to Naruto how all of these mission requests were sorted and that the assignments with higher difficulties were only given to those shinobi who were at a higher rank and had the necessary experience to fulfill those missions. He said that Naruto and the rest of his team were more properly suited for easier, simpler, in-village tasks such as D-Rank missions. Sarutobi told him that he would most likely not be given even a B-Rank assignment until he's had at least an eight-month to a year's worth of experience, much to Naruto's and Harry's chagrin.

Naruto argued a bit more calmly, "But I'm tired of always scraping from the bottom of the barrel! I'm not that same little troublemaking screw-up from the Academy! I'm a shinobi of this village now, and I think I should be given a mission to prove that point! Doing a bunch of D-Rank assignments doesn't show any change at..."

At hearing that statement, Sarutobi pondered while the other genin looked away in embarrassment. Kakashi kept rubbing the back of his head, expecting to hear a reprimand from the Hokage later. Iruka, at hearing Naruto wanting a mission to prove himself again, couldn't help but smile at his efforts and silently agree with him. Iruka himself was like that when he was his age and oddly enough, so was the Hokage. Sarutobi closed his eyes after careful contemplation and made the decision he felt for sure would be the right one. He would grant Naruto his wish and give him a more difficult mission, though he did not choose a mission that could threaten the lives of any of his youthful soldiers. He chose an easy assignment, but difficult enough to leave Naruto content.

"Very well... Since you are so determined, I am going to grant you a C-Rank mission that would normally be given to an experienced chunin. A simple escort that will require you to protect an important individual."

Sasuke looked up in amusement as Sakura looked up with unease, and Kakashi looked up in surprise and slight disappointment, as he wished for less strenuous assignments. Naruto raised his head to the Hokage and he beamed while he took in a breath of surprise and unbelievable excitement.

"Really? Oh my god! Thank you so much, Grandpa!" he said.

Sarutobi interjected, "Don't get too excited, Naruto-kun. It's not like you're transporting a pretty princess or a great lord. You will be transporting a man named Tazuna back to his home in the Land of Waves. He's a master bridge builder and requires a safe escort back to his home to complete his latest project. I hope you didn't expect too much from a simple C-Rank mission such as this..."

"Oh... Umm... Okay!" said Naruto, speculating on the assignment given to him before he threw aside his speculations and felt grateful just to be given this opportunity.

The Hokage then called to outside the room, "Please, send him in!"

Team 7 turned around as one when they heard footsteps coming from behind the sliding door. They all watched as the door slid open, revealing their expected client.

Tazuna was a grey-haired bespectacled old man with a mustache and subtle beard. He wore a sleeveless v-neck shirt with an obi, tan pants and a pair of sandals. He also carried a white towel around his neck and carried a pointed hat on his head that Harry found to be ridiculous and started giggling at it. He was seen drinking a large bottle of sake, holding it by the slender handle, which made him almost look as if he were a bum fresh off the street. If it weren't for his clean clothes and face, he would have been mistaken for a bum. He took another sip of sake, leaking droplets from the corners of his mouth, drinking his alcohol as if it were water. The old man took a huff of a breath as his cheeks blushed slightly from the alcohol when he looked over his chosen escorts.

"You're kidding me, right? These are the ninja that I'm going to be given? They're just a bunch of stupid, snot-nosed kids..." said the client.

Harry commented, '_**What a charming entrance...**_'

"Their incompetent!" Tazuna criticized, "Just a bunch of snot-nosed cosplayers, especially the shorty in the middle, he's gotta be the size of a circus midget! Just look at him! He's a runt!"

Naruto giggled when he believed that Tazuna was referring to either Sasuke of Sakura, but then his teammates closed in on him and showed him by comparison who the short one of the group really was. Naruto looked side to side and noticed that Sakura was remarkably taller than he was by at least a few inches. Sasuke was taller than Sakura, prompting Naruto to become rigid with anger. He growled at Tazuna and jumped in to attack him but Kakashi caught him by the collar and lifted him off his feet by almost a full foot.

"YOU WANNA SAY THAT AGAIN? GET OVER HERE, YOU DRUNKARD BRIDGE-BUILDING MORON!"

At the back table, the old Hokage sighed at Naruto's child-like behavior in front of the other clients that had just started to come in and expect nothing short of the most respectable shinobi in the world. When they saw Naruto's attempts to harm his own client, their confidence in the village dropped several points, causing Sarutobi to grimace as much as when Konohamaru would normally barge in to embarrass him. Iruka, on the other hand, raised his hand up over his mouth as he tried to hide his silenced laughter. He just found Naruto's reaction to be incredibly funny.

Sarutobi told Kakashi from afar, "We'll have Tazuna-san waiting at the front gate while you and the rest of your genin students get ready for the mission. This trip will take at least a week to accomplish."

"Yes sir, understood," he said in a calm voice and then, "Naruto! Stop trying to maim the client!"

* * *

><p>As Naruto returned home in a rush, Harry coaxed him not to run after the client Tazuna and demolish him for poking fun at his height deficiency several more times. The blonde child packed up most of his weapons and a week's worth of clothes. He walked up to his refrigerator and tucked several food rations into his beaded backpack, and several bottles filled with Wiggenweld potion. He walked back to his bedroom and took with him a small book he created that contained a miniature spell book and potion-making instructional booklet that he could study from if the mission dulled in the slightest, given their client. Naruto also grabbed his photo album with all the pictures of his life and mother just in case. Once he was finished with packing, he shut off all of the lights and locked all the doors before he stepped out to leave.<p>

'_**Don't forget that some of your good clothes are still at Iruka's place. You should stop by there before you go, Little one.**_'

'_Ooh! I forgot! Thanks!_'

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks when he heard Toshi arguing over something with his wife. The boy slowly made his way down the hall and looked down the outside steps to see Toshi going on about something, shouting back to his woman, who must have been somewhere around their end of the building. Naruto knew better than to get involved with these entanglements, so he jumped on top of the railing and jumped across to the other building with some difficulty. He then narrowly avoided being spotted by his landlord again and jumped from rooftop to rooftop before jumping back down into the streets of the city to dash toward Iruka's house.

After navigating through multiple crowds and groups of people, he got there in about two and a half minutes. Naruto climbed the stairs and used a click of his fingers to magically open the door and walked inside. But when he stepped inside he gasped in surprise when he saw Iruka in the living room, cleaning up what was left of his lunch from his lunch break.

"Oh! Iruka-sensei..." he started.

Iruka smiled, "Hey! Weren't gonna leave without saying goodbye, were you?"

"Oh, of course not! I came by to pick up the last of the clothes I need, you never know if I'll need another set..."

The older chunin grabbed his emptied plate and walked toward the kitchen, "Say, was that door locked when you opened it? I could've sworn I double locked it when I came in here..."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly as he called himself an idiot in his head for just using magic like that. He then sighed when he knew now that he had to lie to Iruka again. It was a shame, when he thought he was finished with having to lie to him now that he lived with him from time to time. Harry sighed as well, but he was still not open with the idea of Naruto pouring out all of his secrets to Iruka just yet. So he would have to keep making up excuses whenever something strange or unusual happened around him. Naruto hated it, but he had to do it anyway.

"Nope!" he lied again, "The lock must be broken or something..."

Iruka watched as Naruto packed up all of his freshly cleaned clothes (that Iruka took the liberty of washing for him) and tried to suppress the urge to get him to change his mind about going out on a C-Rank mission so soon. This was one thing that Iruka feared ever since he took Naruto in; his little brother's life would be put in terrible danger. Body-guarding a civilian could mean a possibility of having to fight against a person or multiple people who wish to harm or even kill their client. Although this mission would seem like nothing as Team 7 was just going to escort a simple bridge builder back to his home, you can never predict what would've driven this man to resort to hiring escorts and protectors just to get back home.

He had to tell Naruto his concern, before it would be too late. The very least he could do, would be to at least warn or remind him of the danger that he could face. He walked up to adopted brother and then started.

"Listen, Naruto... whatever happens out there... just promise me that you won't go too far..."

The boy turned to him with attentive eyes, "Huh?"

"You know," the chunin coughed, "just be careful while you're out there... The world outside the village isn't a safe one..." he then placed his hands on Naruto's shoulders, "Promise me you'll take it easy and stay safe..."

Naruto smiled and nodded after a long pause, "I promise... But..."

He paused again and thought about what he read about the outside world in _An Unbiased History of the Hidden Leaf Village_ and _A Shinobi's Monologue_. He was fully aware of the risk he and the other members of Team 7 were taking with this simple mission. If anything happened to him, if Naruto ever got hurt or never returned to the village for whatever reason, he would never be able to tell Iruka any of the things that he so desperately wanted to tell him. This man that cared for him unconditionally and took him in deserved to know the truth about him, what he had been doing for the past six years and what he was capable of doing.

The boy started slow as Iruka removed his hands from his shoulders, "Iruka-sensei… There's… There's something important I've been wanting to tell you…"

'_**Naruto, don't do it,**_' he stated strictly.

Harry had piggybacked on Naruto's thoughts and tried to stop him at once. He didn't trust Iruka and he had his reasons, seeing as he never had contact with the outside world apart from Naruto. He caught Iruka raising his eyebrow from the mindscape, which meant that his interest was captured. Harry spotted it and he tried to dissuade his little brother before it was too late.

Naruto tried his best not to succumb to Harry's orders, as he never actually disobeyed him before, "It's about something..."

'_**I said no, Naruto. Don't!**_'

The boy continued as he dropped his hands to his sides and curled his fingers, "I've never told any-"

Just then, Harry focused a great deal of magic through the mindscape and into Naruto's body. The boy failed to feel the sudden warmth in his right hand and the force of a Knockback Jinx escape from his fingertips and shoot out behind him to hit the clock on top of the mantle at the end of Iruka's living room. The clock fell down to the ground and almost broke and caused both Iruka and Naruto to jump with twin expressions of comical surprise on their faces. The clock, with Harry's magic influencing it, tolled loudly and Iruka walked over to inspect the destruction, leaving Naruto to stay where he stood and scowl at his invisible companion for his stunt.

"Oh, man. Mom's antique clock...!" the chunin despaired subtly.

Iruka took a look at the time and look alarmed by how much time had supposedly passed since Team 7 was given their assignment.

"Oh, crap! You're gonna be late!" he said.

Naruto snapped out of day-dreaming and looked at the time as well, "Oh, alright..."

"You're going to need this." said Iruka, who passed over Naruto's beaded bag.

The boy thanked Iruka and gave him a big hug before he turned to leave. He opened the door to the apartment but then he stopped. Naruto paused and spoke to Iruka in his uncommonly soft voice, "Say... About what I said earlier…" he then turned his head around toward Iruka with a warm smile on his face, inherited from his mother, "I'll tell you next time, okay?"

Iruka raised his brow before smiling himself and he nodded, "Right."

* * *

><p>{{<em>There Is A PlotDobby The House Elf by John Williams_}}

Naruto soon reunited with his teammates and sensei at the gigantic front gates of the village. Naruto always noticed this gargantuan set of doors that he could see from his old apartment. The great set of doors that comprised the main gate were painted forest green to match the surrounding environment and had the kanji for "hermitage or retreat". The gates were always open during the day but it was required that the doors be shut and locked securely at night, to prevent any enemies from simply walking into the village without detection, or when the gates were unmanned.

The blonde boy looked over to either side of the gate and spotted two chunin sitting at a large security booth with screens on the walls that fed from cameras all around the gate. There were also guard dogs on patrol there to sniff out impostors if the enemy decided to assume the identity of someone from Konoha. Looking around and spotting all of the numerous security cameras and shinobi patrols guards the top of the stonewall border, Harry and Naruto both had to admit that the defensive strategy put in place to ensure Konoha's protection was very impressive. It wasn't nearly as impressive as the one from Hogwarts, but it came in close.

Looking ahead, Kakashi was signing some sort of form at the security booth and patted the head of one of the guard dogs playfully. It quickly became apparent that Kakashi had some sort of soft spot for animals such as dogs, or rather, particularly dogs. Naruto spotted Tazuna still sipping down his large class bottle of sake. Sakura and Sasuke were close by their client and seemed to be talking. But upon closer inspection, it was just Sakura who was doing the talking while Sasuke nodded his head just to let Sakura believe that he was actually listening to her. Sakura was too oblivious to notice Sasuke wasn't paying attention and just went on rambling about tween-related topics. Naruto sighed and hulled his beaded bag over his shoulders, ready to start off this first big mission.

From the other side of the entrance courtyard, Iruka and the Hokage stood and watched as they saw Kakashi and his students sign their names on the check-out sheet and start marching out of the village for the first time in any of their lives (minus Kakashi). Iruka couldn't help but watch fearfully as his little brother entered the dangerous world outside the walls of this relatively safe village, unable to shake off this feeling of unexplained dread. He could only hope that Kakashi kept him and the others safe as well. Iruka knew that it appeared as if he were being harsh on the blonde for worrying like this, but he only wanted him safe. For now, all he could do was wait and hope that Naruto would be able to return and get to tell him what it was that he was going on about earlier, perhaps over a nice bowl of ramen.

As he and the Hokage began to leave and get back to work at the Mission Assignment Desk, Iruka turned back as Naruto's orange and blue tracksuit disappeared from view and he said, already knowing that Naruto probably couldn't hear him anyway.

"Be safe... little brother..."

* * *

><p>Naruto sneezed as the gates of Konoha now looked like a miniature model from the distance.<p>

'_**Gesundheit! Perhaps someone is talking about you, Little one?**_'

'_You actually believe in that myth? It's rubbish, I bet!_'

'_**You never know... I bet its Sarutobi or maybe Iruka. I could definitely sense that Iruka didn't like the idea of you taking on an assignment like this so soon.**_'

'_It doesn't matter. I promised that I would stay safe, and that's what I'm gonna do!_'

The little blonde shinobi took careful steps along the large trail while he followed in his sensei's footsteps. But soon, he walked up ahead of the group by a few meters, Kakashi was about to tell Naruto to not run off ahead, because it would be dangerous, but then the child stopped before he could even say a word. Naruto took one extra step forward and then gasped before whooping in happiness. Tazuna and the other genin watched the blonde's unusual behavior before he explained through a sort of announcement.

"This is the farthest I've ever been away from home in my life! In fact, it's the first time I've ever set foot outside of the village!"

Sakura rolled her eyes as Tazuna pointed at Naruto, "Do you honestly expect me to be escorted back to my home by this runt? I should go back and request for a more competent ninja than this joke!"

"He's with me and I'm a jounin, so you don't need to worry!" Kakashi reassured their grumpy client, '_Kami... This geezer acts like a brat..._'

Both Naruto and Harry scowled at their client as the boy kept walking forward. The first thing that popped into Naruto's head to do was to mouth off the old man but then he shook his head and decided to hang back and get close to Tazuna and give him a piece of his mind, hoping that all of that lousy alcohol wouldn't slur the message he was about to give him.

"You know, Tazuna-san. You should learn to give people, other than yourself, some normal respect... I may not look like it now, but one day I'm going to become the next Hokage!" he said.

But Tazuna scoffed at Naruto's fair warning, "The small always dream of things too big for them to handle! There's no way in hell you could be a Hokage, let alone a good ninja. You're too much of a pipsqueak."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A RUNT SO TINY THAT HE CAN ONLY BE SEEN WITH A MAGNIFYING GLASS? YOU JERK!"

(A/N: I love FMA!)

* * *

><p>A few hours later, Kakashi led his team and their client deep into the woods that led to the east. The Land of Waves, which was a group of numerous different islands, was located a few miles off the east coast of the Land of Fire. The only problem that seemed to be in the way of this mission for Team 7 were the many miles they would have to tread just to get there. It would take them until nightfall just to get to the shore on foot. After all that walking, they would have to find a transport to cross the sea and reach the islands of the Land of Waves.<p>

Naruto was very excited at hearing Kakashi inform them of this, despite how long it would take. He kept on asking him how they would cross the sea and started asking questions if he ever went to a beach before.

"Yes, Naruto, I have seen the ocean before." he answered kindly.

Naruto asked him, "What's it like? Being there on the beach? Is it nice?"

"You'll just have to find out for yourself, Naruto. It's going to be a long journey before we even get there."

Kakashi was patient with all of his smallest student's questions and answered them all without showing any signs of being annoyed. Naruto soon stopped questioning his sensei as he didn't wish to irritate him and he decided to keep a look out for danger.

Unbeknownst to the traveling group, two tall and suspicious figures watched them from the trees. They were both so silent and so swift in their movements that the steps they made, whether on the ground or in the trees, remained unheard from even the most audio-sensitive animal in the forest. Harry, back in the mindscape, kept a lookout as he too had read from the books Naruto read about the danger of the outside world. He couldn't shake off the feeling that they were being watched and kept his senses stretched out enough to pick up the faintest chakra signature.

About forty-five minutes into walking east, everyone started to get a little bit bored or in some cases scared.

"Say, Tazuna-san?" asked Sakura, as she started to become frightened of the forest already, "You come from the Land of Waves, right?"

The old man grunted, "Yeah, what about it?"

"Kakashi-sensei," she decided that she didn't want her answer from Tazuna and turned to her teacher, "are there any shinobi out there in Tazuna's country?"

Their teacher answered, "No, not in the Land of Waves. But in other countries there are villages like our own, each with their own customs and cultures where the shinobi thrive..."

Kakashi went on about how most of the countries of the world they lived in where a country that had a shinobi-populated village meant they had powerful military strength. He told them that the existence of powerful villages is what helped the villages protect themselves and kept the balance of power between the five main elemental countries and their respected hidden villages. Naruto already knew that the hidden villages were not under control by any government and that they were independent, though for some reason, Sakura had no knowledge of this.

"A small set of islands such as the Land of Waves doesn't need a hidden village, as it is already protected by the sea..."

'_**Should I bake a quiche while I wait for this snooze-fest to be done?'**_

Naruto tried his best not to laugh at Harry's joke out loud and just kept quiet while he listened to Kakashi explain what he already knew about the five main countries that had hidden villages. Harry just groaned and tried to pre-occupy himself with something else as Kakashi explained the major importance of the five Kage that ran each of the five hidden villages. Naruto forgot most of the names of the leaders but he did get down the names of Hokage, Kazekage, Mizukage, Raikage, and Tsuchikage from the villages of Konoha, Suna, Kiri, Kumo, and Iwa respectively. When Sakura came into full realization of the political and military power that the Kage held in their hands, she looked ecstatic.

"Really? Then Hokage-sama was be so amazing! Heehee!" she giggled, placing her hands together and blushing, as she would normally do for her precious Sasuke. But her Inner-Sakura said so otherwise, '**That lazy old man? A leader worthy of honor? YEAH RIGHT! I'm not buying it for one second! CHA!**'

Naruto greatly respected his grandfather more for having raised him since he was a baby. But to be honest, he wasn't sure if he respected him as a warrior so much as he respected him as a member of his family. Naruto just couldn't see an old man as wise and loving as Hiruzen Sarutobi to be a ruthless leader of an entire military force of thousands upon thousands of shinobi and kunoichi.

'_Grandpa being a warrior...? The only time I can recall him doing anything close to that would be when he vanished out of thin air and wore that old uniform._'

'_**You mean like that time on the night of the Uchiha Massacre?**_'

'_Yeah, that time..._'

Kakashi asked out loud, "You guys just doubted Hokage-sama, didn't you?"

Sakura and Naruto both froze up and shook their heads, insisting that their sensei was wrong about their true opinions of the Hokage. Although, Sakura did a very poor job with making it seem as if she truly respected their chief and lord. Harry had to admit that how Kakashi read them both like a book and caught them off guard like that made him laugh a little bit.

* * *

><p>Team 7 traveled for over an hour towards the east. They slowly climbed down steep hills, crossed through dangerous terrain with jagged rocks and horned plants, but they made it out all right through every obstacle in their path. The group eventually walked across a very large wooden bridge over a deep river being fed by a beautiful, cascading waterfall. They soon entered into a new forest filled with strange trees that looked different than those found normally in Konoha. Naruto took in a deep breath as he walked and could tell now that they were very far away from the village as the air smelled significantly different. There was a sort of pine tree smell in the air that Naruto recognized and associated with the mindscape whenever he and Harry celebrated the winter holidays.<p>

As they entered a clearing in the forest, Naruto looked down and spotted a fairly large puddle of water. He raised an eyebrow and looked up to search for any sign of recent storm clouds but found none. He smelled the air and couldn't pick up the same smell that came after a night of rainfall Naruto ever lived through. He stopped and examined the puddle from where he stood; his teammates ignored him as they caught up with him, except for Kakashi. Naruto saw the water ripple slightly even though nothing happened to cause it to happen. He noticed that the water didn't look all that right. The water was an unnatural color of blue, when it should have been clear. Harry analyzed the puddle and said to Naruto in a playful voice.

'_**Oh, what a wonderfully obvious puddle of water! Exactly **_**how**_** thick do these people think we are?**_'

'_It hasn't rained in how long again...? This is obviously a genjutsu; a transformation that allows the user to blend in with water to be undetected by the enemy. It would be brilliant if they chose to use it after an _actual_ rainy day!_'

'_**Be careful. I sense there are two human souls that wish to kill you and the others, hiding just beneath the surface. I can feel their bloodlust from here.**_'

'_What should I do? Do something about it or leave it to Kakashi-sensei?_'

Harry smirked and joked, '_**Why not try both?**_'

Naruto smiled back before he stretched his sore body from all that walking and then he jumped into the puddle. He jumped up and down on the water and splashed in the puddle over and over again and laughed like he was six. He splashed around for a bit longer before he went back to walking and caught up with his teammates. He quickly jumped up ahead of the group and ignored Harry's howling laughter at pointing out the obvious use of genjutsu. Sakura scold Naruto for almost splashing some water on her dress, but just like Harry's laughter, he channeled it out.

As they continued to walk down the road, the puddle reformed itself and out from that puddle silently sprouted two human heads with long brown hair and terrible sharp eyes. Two human figures soundlessly emerged from the puddle as the water beneath their feet formed into their flesh and clothes. They were two young adults, possibly in their mid-twenties, that looked almost perfectly identical. They both wore dark, tattered robes that were stained with blood and smelled so foul that they could make one's nose crinkle at how much it stung to smell them. Underneath their hideous cloaks and disgustingly greasy and poorly-kept hair, they wore identical air masks that allowed them to breath in harsh environments, a large clawed gauntlet (one wearing one of the left arm, the other on the right), camouflage pants with different shades of brown and grey, and a headband with the symbol of Kirigakure no Sato engraved on slightly rusted metal plates.

Once they had emerged completely, letting a small trail of mist encircle them, they attacked. One of the twins jumped off of the other, lunging over Kakashi, their first target. With a surge of chakra sent into their feet and legs, the two ninja encircled Kakashi several times in the space of one second, revealing an unnaturally long shuriken chain that was attached under the claw of each twin's gauntlets. The sharp weaponry wrapped around Kakashi, instantly digging deep into the flesh of his arms, neck, chest, and legs. Once their chain was all used up and no more could possibly wrap around Team 7's leader, the twins gave a great and mighty tug of their chain as Team 7 and Tazuna watched Kakashi be turned into shredded hamburger meat.

Sakura screamed at the top of her lungs, Sasuke gasped in surprise, as Tazuna let out a great yell of horror.

Naruto yelled, "SENSEI!"

Just then, the two enemy ninja used that same surge of chakra focused into their feet and both appeared right behind Naruto. He could sense them at once, so well that he could already read their faces, despite not having caught sight of them in the second it took to destroy their sensei. Sakura gasped when they appeared behind her teammate but was too frightened to yell for him to look out. Naruto froze, the fear of death keeping him in place for a second or two. But then he remembered facing situations and dangers that were just as bad as this moment and had come out just fine. He soon puckered up the courage adopted from his schoolhouse of Gryffindor and got ready to fight as the shinobi he was now ready to become.

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><p>To Be Continued...<p>

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><p><strong>Alright! Chapter two is at last finished!<strong>

**AZ44: I must say, this was well done, but did you really have to use two FMA-like quotes in this chapter?**

**Kvsyaoran: I know, but I just love Edward Elric so much that I love to put in some of his famous lines. Particularly the ones that he yells when his height is pointed out. He and Naruto seem to have that temper problem when it comes to insulting their height. But I don't think I'm going to do anymore, it's funny but not all that original.**

**AZ44: That's probably for the best, considering I hate Fullmetal Alchemist.**

**Kvsyaoran: What?**

**AZ44: I just don't like Fullmetal Alchemist. The 2003 version or Brotherhood. I think it's stupid.**

**Kvsyaoran: You are dead to me.**

**AZ44: What? Just because I don't like **_**one**_** of the anime that you like?**

**Naruto: It's more than just one!**

**AZ44: Okay. I don't like a few of the shows that you enjoy watching.**

**Kvsyaoran: It's more than a few! You told me "Baccano!" was too confusing to follow and you said you wished it ended after the first five or less episodes.**

**AZ44: In my defense-**

**Naruto: You said that One Piece looked like it was drawn out by a four year old!**

**AZ44: But I-**

**Kvsyaoran: You said that xxxHolic was too weird and obscure for anyone to like!**

**AZ44: Well-**

**Kvsyaoran: You **_**spat**_** at the television screen when Neon Genesis Evangelion started playing! HOW DARE YOU!**

**AZ44: Okay, could we just get to the omake already?**

**Oh yeah! I'll rant on you another time, here's an omake that I wrote while I was at the beach and thought it would be funny! Feel free to laugh if you thinks it's funny! If not, I don't care I was bored.**

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><p>As Team 7 walked down the dirt road path out of he village and turned to the east, Naruto raised his arms above his head and cheered, "Road trip! Yay~!"<p>

Sakura growled at Naruto as she always did, "Naruto! Will you keep it down, you baka! There could be enemy ninja stalking us!"

"Aww, c'mon Sakura-chan!" Naruto reasoned, "This is the first time any of us have ever been on the road together! We should have some fun while we're here, right?"

Kakashi stepped in front of Sakura, keeping his hands in his pockets and staying laid back, "I don't see why not... Even though I've been outside of town loads of times, I never really had any fun with it."

"There's always a first time for everything!" Naruto smiled at his teacher, "I can't remember being this excited since I went to that Enya concert!"

Sasuke snorted and laughed at Naruto as he pointed at him mockingly and Sakura joined him in laughing, "You went to an Enya concert? You really are the biggest loser on the face of the earth, dobe."

"Wait a minute!" Kakashi froze and looked at Naruto in surprise, "You listen to Enya, Naruto?"

Naruto crossed his arms and said, expecting Kakashi to respond negatively like Sasuke, "Ever since I was six!"

"Me too! I love Enya!" Kakashi confessed happily, "I once got her to autograph my black t-shirt! I'm wearing it right now!"

Sakura looked as if her face went flat and dull as Kakashi lifted his flak jacket to show Naruto his autographed black t-shirt written in silver marker ink. Sasuke shared a similar expression and declared that Naruto was now the second biggest loser on the face of the earth. Tazuna looked over his hired help and tried to deny what he was seeing as Naruto and Kakashi started going on about how much they loved Enya music. It didn't take them that long before they started marching down the road and singing on of her songs as if they had consumed a large amount of alcohol to get started.

Naruto: I walk the maze of moments!

Kakashi: But everywhere I turn to!

Naruto: Begins a new beginning!

Kakashi: But never finds a finish!

Naruto: I walk to the horizon!

Kakashi: And there I find another!

Naruto: It all seems so surprising!

Kakashi: And then I find that I know~!

Tazuna tried again and again to deny what he was seeing as Sasuke and Sakura stuck close by each other, fearing that Kakashi and Naruto as if they were both demonic spirits sent from another world. Tazuna looked at his bottle of sake and tried to check if these ninja had slipped it out of his hands and drank some of it, hoping that it would explain their bizarre behavior.

He eventually said to himself, "These... are my escorts?"

* * *

><p>Anywhere Is Lyrics by Enya<p>

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><p><strong>New chapters coming in soon, remember to leave behind a review to help inspire me! :)<strong>


	3. The Land of Waves

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/ Inner Sakura

'_Blah_': Naruto's Thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

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><p><strong>Here we are yet again ladies and gents, to another exciting episode of AotM. We got a little bit of action, slight comedy, and some character development this time around. I hope that what action I put into this chapter will hold you guys off until the next chapter with the first fight with Zabuza and Team 7.<strong>

**Naruto: Let's hope that you'll make some changes with that fight.**

**Kvsyaoran: I'll see what I can do. But I don't like making promises that I can't hold up.**

**Naruto: Say, where's Azeroth44?**

**Kvsyaoran: He's on vacation on the east coast. He'll be back by next week.**

**Naruto: Awww. I was hoping for some really messed up crap would happen by now.**

**Kvsyaoran: Way to go, Naruto. Now it's guaranteed that something bad will happen momentarily.**

**Naruto: PFT! Until then, can you tell me what else you've been working on with the series?**

**Kvsyaoran: Actually I'm currently drafting the layout of the second Chunin Selection Exams & the Invasion of Suna both of them taking place in the Dark Path of Shinobi. As well as how I'm going to re-construct how the Six Paths of Pain work and how I'm going to have you kill the Deva Path** **in the most epic way possible. It's going to be really fantastic! :D  
><strong>

**Naruto: Ooohhh, I can't wait!**

**(Suddenly, a black, smoking ball comes rolling in with a note attached to it. Kvsyaoran reads it aloud)**

**Kvsyaoran: _Greetings my fellow nerds, I'm burning up the beach with my epic _****_dragon _****_breath and laughing my ass off while I'm swimming in the salty deep blue sea as I know you'll get this message._ Oh-no...**

**Naruto: What the hell does that mean? Isn't that in Azeroth44's handwriting? It sounded like a failed rap.  
><strong>

**Kvsyaoran: Naruto, you idiot.**

**(KA-BOOM!)**

* * *

><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, **

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling, **

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: To The Land of Waves<p>

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><p>{{<em>The Spiders Attack by John Williams<em>}}

Naruto slowly turned around to see two huge claws being weld by two enemy ninja from Kiri. The twins swung their gauntlets back, some strange liquid glistening on the claws of their weapons that almost blinded Naruto as they clearly reflected the powerful rays of sunlight that beat down upon them all. Naruto instinctively reached back and withdrew a shuriken from his weapons pouch. With the fear of death driving him to do anything to survive this deadly encounter, Naruto tapped into his magical resources as he threw the shuriken in between the two gauntlets attaching the twins together.

The weapon zoomed at top speeds and hit the shuriken chain connecting the attackers, with the power of a highly powerful, nonverbal Banishing Charm. Once Naruto's weapon hit the chain, the magic put into it drove into the hole of the shuriken in the dead-center of the chain and deep into a tree directly across from Naruto with the strength of twenty shinobi.

The chain was now stuck inside of the tree and pinning the assassins to where they stood with the power of the spell. Naruto gasped in surprise and smirked at what he did, causing him to feel more rejuvenated and confidant in the fight. He then quickly tapped onto the two gauntlets with a magical touch and destroyed the release mechanism inside them both, ensuring that they would not be going anywhere. Naruto crossed his arm before he threw them both to his sides and slammed his balled fists into the faces of both his enemies. Making sure he didn't force them to strain the chain keeping them pinned. But from right behind him, the Uchiha prince jumped up high into the air and threw a kunai in between the twins, distracting them away from Naruto, who was standing only a few feet away from them. The twins looked toward the weapons that pinned them still as Sasuke stomped right on top of their gigantic gauntlets. In a flash, Sasuke grasped the bases of the twins gauntlets and kicked both of them in the face, while lunging forth. With that excessive use of force, the chains that kept them both from going anywhere snapped with a loud clang and released the twins from the confines Naruto trapped them in. Naruto gasped in protest as Harry let out his outrage through verbal means.

'**_That idiotic spoiled brat!_**' Harry shouted.

Now that they were free, the enemy on the right used the same boost of chakra to the feet to go around Sasuke and sprint towards Tazuna, while the other on the left decided to attack Naruto. The boy was now terrified as Sasuke destroyed the chain that confined their attackers, but as scared as he felt, he still withdrew another weapon, this time a kunai. His attacker pulled back it's clawed arm and threw it forward to stab him. Naruto ducked, stride sideways, and even jumped as his opponent kept trying to jab at him. A few seconds later, Naruto held his kunai out in front of him, lodging the knife in between the claws of his enemy's gauntlet. Naruto was pushed backward, his feet dragging dirt and shredding undisturbed green grass. Naruto struggled and yelled angrily as he struggled to keep his enemy from going anywhere. He growled out as he was pushed backward through the dirt and grass, as he lacked the physical strength to push forward and start on an offensive maneuver.

Back with the other assassin, he dashed toward Tazuna, fully intent on not only killing him, but shredding him until he could no longer be recognized. Sakura screamed but soon stopped as she saw the man heading toward their client and not her. Being inspired by Sasuke's "fearless" moves against the twins several seconds ago, she jumped to her side, standing in front of Tazuna and in the way of their attacker. She whipped out a kunai from her right leg holster and held it in front of her.

"_Stay behind me, sir!_" she yelled.

Sakura bumped her client back as she watched the greasy-haired head of the assassin bounce up and down with every step he made. Sakura sweat profusely as her face became more bloodless and her eyes having shrunk in size from the fear of death that gripped at her more than it did Naruto, chilling her down to the very core. She couldn't move now as she felt for sure that the end was coming on swift wings. But then Sasuke landed from his foolish attack and saw Sakura jumping in front of Tazuna to protect him. He made a move and jumped in front of her at very impressive speeds. He got ready to bask in the glory as he held a weapon in each of his hands and got ready to slice at the enemy once he got close enough.

Back with Naruto, he was now beginning to fail with holding his opponent back. He struggled with trying to hold the warrior back, his kunai still entangled with the claws of his large gauntlet, but it only lasted for one more second. His weapon gave in as it was snapped in half like a piece of wood. Naruto let out a loud gasp and he froze as he would not be quick enough to pull out another weapon. The warrior in front of him pulled his gauntlet back before he jabbed at Naruto. All the boy could do was attempt to move slightly to the left, enabling him to miss the claws of the gauntlet by centimeters.

Just as the other assassin made his way to strike at Sasuke, and the other was about to tackle Naruto to the ground as he backed up. They both vanished out of thin air, and reappeared at the center of the field. Both of them in a choke-hold at the hand of the revived Kakashi Hatake. At speeds too fast for any of the genin to comprehend, their sensei had used the Replacement Jutsu when the twins first attacked him. The evidence being the pile of shredded logs of wood where Kakashi was supposedly killed. Naruto dropped the remains of his broken knife and regained his previous posture. He looked over to the pile of sliced wood and then over to the tree where the chain of shuriken was drilled into by his magic.

'_That idiot Sasuke! If he didn't jump in, they would have been trapped!_'

'**_He risked the safety of the entire team for showing off like that. With your magic pinning that chain to that tree, they wouldn't have broken free!_**'

Naruto heard Sakura gasp and saw her smile at the sight of their teacher. Sasuke looked over at Kakashi and scowled at him as if he ruined the whole thing for him. Kakashi carried the assassins away but not before turning to Naruto with a look of concern in his lone eye.

"Naruto...? Are you alright?" he asked.

The boy flinched at his words of concern, but after taking in what he asked, nodded and ensured him that he was fine. Kakashi nodded back and told him, "Excellent work by the way, Naruto. Good job!"

He then turned to the other two and said, "Sakura. Nice work! But Sasuke, while tried to knock out the enemy, you almost risked the lives of the group when you snapped that chain. But since no one was hurt, I'll let you off with a _firm_ warning to not show off like that again. It's a good thing they didn't scratch any of you, their claws were dipped in poison."

At hearing that said, Naruto froze as he felt a sharp, burning pain before it felt as if his right arm were dipped in ice-cold water. He slowly turned his head and looked down at his arm and mentally gasped at what he saw. He had thought that he had dodged that finally jab, but he was wrong. Naruto saw a tear in his clothes and saw a concerning amount of blood staining the orange on his sleeve. Naruto carefully turned his body as he felt the cold poison enter his bloodstream and begin to darken the veins around the wound underneath the cloth. Naruto covered the wound with his hand and allowed Harry to reverse the effect of the venom and eliminate the threat while Naruto worked his own magic to hide the wound.

He looked over to see Tazuna lift himself off the ground but soon isolate himself away from the group slightly. He saw Kakashi drag the bodies of the twins away and busied himself by tying them both up against a tree very uncomfortably. Sakura smiled and giggled at her own bravery while Sasuke decided to brood to himself again. Naruto would not allow the team to slow down for his sake, seeing as he was unable to defend himself properly against the enemy. Plus, if Sasuke caught Naruto having been wounded, he would never let him hear the end of it, neither would Sakura.

Naruto whispered under his breath, "_Textus Reparo!_"

And with that spell whispered, the the orange clothes were repaired instantly. Naruto used a silent Cleaning Charm to hide the bloodstain and once it appeared to be gone, he finally walked up to the rest of the team as Harry continued to heal the wound along with the foxes natural healing power. Kakashi was still busying himself with the attackers and tried to get some answers out of them. Naruto walked up and just as he was about to ask their sensei what they should do next, Sasuke spoke out to Naruto, breaking their habit of no-talking to each other and fueling their mutual disdain for each other.

"Hey…" he called out to Naruto, "You're not hurt are you, scaredy-cat?"

Naruto looked at Sasuke with a scowl, "What?"

"I heard you screaming earlier." the Uchiha said with a sickening chuckle, "You were practically singing like a canary while you were fighting that guy!"

The boy explained insistently, "_I wasn't scared!_ I was just letting out a battle cry, you prat!"

"Yeah, like I said, you were scared." Sasuke said arrogantly, "I didn't realize that they added 'pussy-ass lad-boys' to the Sandaime's infamous roster."

Naruto yelled back at him, "Shut up, Sasuke-teme! You almost killed us all when you decided to steal the show!"

After Kakashi tried to wake up their attackers, he stood up and turned to their client with a dangerous and scary look in his eye. Tazuna looked a little nervous from the look that was given to him as Kakashi slowly approached him. Kakashi cleared his throat and said, "Tazuna-san..."

"Yeah? What is it?" he asked.

Kakashi asked him casually, despite the fact that he sounded a bit angry, "Mind telling my why on earth these two missing-nin were coming after you specifically?"

"I-I-I d-don't know what you mean!" the old man stammered and began to sweat.

Kakashi told him as his students listened in, "These men have been spying on us and tried to take you out. I noticed earlier the puddle that Naruto was splashing around in and recognized it immediately as a genjutsu. It hasn't rained in a while and the sun's been out all day, so that puddle shouldn't have been there. I had to figure out who they were targeting, so I used a Replacement Jutsu and studied the enemies movements and noticed that they were targeting _you_ specifically. They took me out first, because they knew that I could take them out in a second."

Tazuna looked very nervous as he continued to sweat and tremble in Kakashi's presence.

"In your mission request report, there was no mention that any _shinobi_ seeking to take your life. All you requested was an escort to your home village and for us four to protect you from robbers, bandits, and highway men. Being targeted and attacked by shinobi makes this at least a B-Rank mission. All we had to do was protect you while you finished building your bridge. If we knew that you had enemy ninja trailing you, we would have staffed it differently and charged you for the cost of a B-Rank assignment."

The old man's face flushed as he felt Kakashi read him like a book and was beginning to feel guilty.

"I bet you do have your reasons for doing what you did, Tazuna, but lying to us is not acceptable. You risked the lives of my students for what you did. They're in over their heads now with this mission."

Sakura back up unnecessarily, "We're not good enough to handle this assignment. Can't we quit?"

'**_What a cowardly excuse for a kunoichi..._**' Harry commented under his breath.

As Kakashi thought over whether or not they should turn back with or without the old man, Naruto looked in between carrying out the rest of the mission to the end and tending to the cold soreness that almost numbed his entire right arm. Sasuke looked as if he wanted to keep going as he wished to test the limits of his superiority. Sakura just wanted to go home, feeling too threatened to keep going and feared for her own safety. Tazuna, however, looked overwhelmingly nervous and feared for his currently unknown cause. He needed these ninja if he wanted to get the bridge project finished, and he couldn't afford to hire ninja to take on his clearly B-Ranked problem.

"Alright..." he said finally, "I'm sorry for deceiving you the way I did and putting your brats in danger... But as you said before, I do have my reasons for lying..."

Kakashi asked him, "And they are?"

"Let's just say that I made a bad enemy by mistake and now they will stop at nothing for retribution. I had to leave my village secretly and hope that I could hire someone to protect me until my bridge was being complete... I feared that they might send in ninja, but I honestly thought that they would just stick with thugs or some amateur samurai looking for a hot meal as payment..."

The team looked at Tazuna with raised brows and looked at each other in questioning. Kakashi thought over the situation presented to them and tried to think of what to do once again.

Kakashi eventually said with haste, "Well, this is certainly complicated... In all fairness, we should just drop this mission and leave you here to walk home on your own..."

The older man looked down at his shoes and made it seem as if he had truly lost this time and tried to seem innocent as he waited for Kakashi to finally say what he had been hoping for all this time.

"However, it is no longer in my nature to abandon people who are in need my help... My students and I will continue to escort you back to your home."

"What?" openly protested Sakura.

Tazuna looked up with a smiled on his bearded face and said, "You really mean it? You'll continue through with the mission-"

"Just one second there, Tazuna," Kakashi interrupted him suddenly, "I said we would escort you back home. But I didn't say we would keep protecting you until your bridge is complete. As punishment for your deception, we will drop you off once we get you to the shore of your homeland... After that, my team and I will rest and return back to our village... It's only fair this way. You paid for a C-Rank mission, then you're going to get a C-Rank mission. Oh, and if any of my students are injured, or dare I say killed, on the way to your country, you'll be paying for the damages down to every last ryo."

The old bridge-builder coughed and rubbed the back of his neck, "Er... Very well... It only serves me right..."

"Then it's settled, let's get this mission done and over with, gang!" the jounin announced.

Tazuna followed Kakashi as he led the parade to the east, Sakura following behind quickly while Naruto and Sasuke kept shooting glares at each other. They both ran up to the gathered group, as if they were racing each other, neither genin taking their eyes off each other. Sasuke soon, brushed ahead and muttered under his breath as Naruto kept throwing every insult back with another.

He coughed, "Dobe."

"Teme." replied Naruto.

Sasuke muttered, "Wimp."

"Wanker." he said back at him.

* * *

><p>By the end of the day, Team 7 was unable to make it to the shoreline and darkness fell upon them just when they were a mile away from where they would be renting a boat to cross the sea. But as they got closer to the place where they decided to camp out until morning, Naruto could smell salt in the air and feel a pleasing breeze of cold wind on his face. He took in the smell gladly and enjoyed feeling the cool wind brush against his face as he and the rest of their team got settle around a small, tightly packed clearing. Kakashi choosing this spot over an open space, so as to prevent an enemy from attacking them with the amount of space needed for an attack.<p>

After Naruto was set up with camp, he decided to look around out of curiosity and hoped to see the ocean for the first time in his life. He let his nose and the feel of the wind be his guide as he squeezed through the treeline but then stopped. Naruto looked down and to his shock, he almost fell down a cliff that turned out to be over three hundred feet high above the ground below. Naruto quickly backed up and retreated back to the campsite. When he got back, everyone was finished with setting up for the night, sleeping bags laid out and Sasuke had started a fire with a small jutsu. Sakura was busy in an isolated corner of the camp, secretly applying a small amount of makeup to make her skin slightly more pale than it was. Kakashi was busy fishing out some food rations from his own backpack had it handed out to the rest of the group.

Naruto settled down across from Tazuna, who seemed to be busy twiddling his thumbs and muttering to himself nervously. Naruto studied his face carefully and could tell just by looking into his eyes that something was really amiss about this man. As if he were hiding a much greater truth behind the simple story he told the team a few hours ago, as if he were expecting greater threat than the Demon Brothers. Speaking of them, Kakashi had sent out a distress signal back to Konoha using a high-frequency signal with his wireless radio to alert any Konoha ANBU in the area to pick up their attackers who were still tied up on the trees Kakashi tied them to.

As Naruto wondered if Tazuna forgot to mention something about the man who hired their attackers, the old man noticed Naruto was staring at him and he scowled in irritance.

"What are you staring at, pipsq-" he started.

Naruto growled in a horrifying voice and made everything around him seem a hundred times darker, "_Go ahead. Say it. Call me a pipsqueak again. I dare you._"

Tazuna flinched at the sight of Naruto's darker side and quickly kept quiet and to himself again, just as Kakashi came back and sat down in front of the fire with Naruto and the old man. Before long, Sasuke and Sakura joined them as well and were given shares of food from Kakashi. As they ate some re-heated rice and basic food rations, the team sat around the fire and talked for a bit as to what they were going to do next. Some conversations traveled back to the events earlier this this morning with the attack of the twins.

"Say, sensei?" Sakura asked, "Do you think that we might get ambushed again soon? What if the enemy decides to attack us while we're asleep?"

Kakashi smiled at her with that same goofy smile of his, "No one will get close to you or anyone else so long as I will stand guard. So don't you worry."

"Who were those people that attacked us?" asked Sasuke.

Their teacher told them, "They were Meizu and Gozu, the Demon Brothers from Kirigakure no Sato. They became missing-nin, or shinobi outlaws, after they attempted an assassination on the Mizukage a few years ago. They were ran out of their village and have been on the run ever since. They were listed in the bingo book as A-Rank criminals due to their violent natures. They're sick men who enjoy thrashing and slaughtering their targets without end. If they got to you guys as they planned, they would have never stopped to try to kill you."

Naruto became worried at the idea of being attacked in their sleep, and then a light bulb went off in his head and he placed his food to the side as he stood up. The others looked at him as he stood and Naruto quickly explained.

"Excuse me," he said, "I have to use the restroom."

The group went back to eating as Naruto walked outside of the thick treeline. He walked a few feet ahead of the trees and looked back to make sure that no one could see him. Once he was sure, Naruto outstretched his arms and hands as he tried to focus magical power into them. He struggled as the poison from earlier, while some of it was almost out of his system, still did it's damage as it was made harder to flow chakra or magic into his right arm. In the mindscape, Harry could sense the struggle his younger brother was having and he tuned in on what he was trying to do.

'_**What exactly are you doing, Little one?**_' he asked.

Naruto told him with excitement in his voice, '_Protective enchantments._ _You fancy giving me a hand with them?_'

'_**Brilliant idea! Why didn't I think of that?**__** Here, I'll help you out with this! You say the incantations, and I'll provide the power.**_'

Naruto let the magical energy flow out of his body while he started walking around the campsite and waving his arms in criss crosses. As he encircled the camp and waved his arms, he felt the warmth put into them as it flowed out through his fingertips and gave off strange disturbances in the surrounding air. It almost looked like a sort of plasma seeped out of Naruto's hands and began to grow all around the campsite and created a sort of dome of protection. As the rest of Team 7 ate their dinner obliviously, the plasma stretched above their heads but quickly became transparent as soon as the dome was formed.

As Naruto completed his circle, he kept muttering incantations quietly, "_Protego Totalum..._ _Salvio Hexia... Repello Muggletum... Muffliato..._ I think that should do it..."

As the shield quickly became transparent, Naruto spotted a few flies trying to make their way over to the source of heat that the shield created only to suddenly stop flying and fall down to the ground dead. Naruto smiled and turned around to head back to camp when he suddenly heard something snap right behind him. Naruto slowly turned around and walked back up to the end of the shield and heard something again, this time more snapping and crunching. He started to hear footsteps and the crunching sounds growing louder and louder with each passing second. Naruto gasped silently as he spotted three tall and terrible-looking shinobi, wearing outfits strikingly similar to that of the Demon Brothers. Wearing identical grey vests over-top camouflage pants and shirts with the same shades of brown and grey. They each had headbands that bore the same symbol as the Demon Brothers as well, they all came from Kirigakure.

Naruto froze still as they simply walked right past him, no more than two feet away, and complete oblivious to his presence. What was interesting, was that no glowing light from the fire behind Naruto was cast onto any of the three passing shinobi, proving the success of Naruto's protective charms. To the outsiders, Naruto and everyone in the surrounding area were non-existent. Naruto dared not to make a sound out of caution and stayed where he stood until the shinobi would go away. All the while, he watched and listened to them for clues and hints to their motives, though their voices sounded somewhat muffled as if Naruto had water in his ears while he listened to them from the other side of the shield.

The first shinobi on the right looked around after a drink of water, "Where do you think they went? This is the rendezvous point. The Demon Brothers said they would meet us here after they finished off the old man. They both said right here in the woods by the cliffside."

"Are you sure about that?" the one of the left asked.

The first one of the right replied in an arrogant voice, "PFT! I'm absolutely sure!"

"You're absolutely sure? There hasn't come a single day where you've done anything right, you prick! How can we trust you with the location of a simple rendezvous point?" the left shinobi pointed out.

The shinobi on the right mocked and imitated his partner and waved his arms, "Oh, look at me, I'm always right! You think you're the best at everything, huh? You think you're perfect?"

"I'm pretty good." he answered simply.

The right shinobi asked his disgruntled partner, "Yeah, you read all the scrolls, but when it comes to the crunch, where are you?"

"How _dare_ you speak to me of The Crunch! You know _nothing_ of The Crunch! You've never even _been_ to The Crunch!"

The shinobi on the right replied quickly, "I've been there once."

"Oh, a little day trip 'round The Crunch? We can all go as tourists!" the shinobi on the left sarcastically mocked.

The middle member of the group couldn't take the bickering anymore and yelled, "Both of you just shut up!"

As all of this was happening, Naruto and Harry both stared in utter confusion while this three-man team bickered and argued for several more minutes. Harry sat down on his bed with his chin resting on his hand as he raised an eyebrow at them, he and Naruto both sharing similar expressions of complete confusion as they watched the three men argue over complete nonsense. The pair of wizards stared through the invisible barrier as the shinobi trio outside eventually settled things and determined that they should probably get going to search another fraction of the the forest for their partners in crime.

Soon, they stood up and were about to pass by directly in front of Naruto before the one closest to him stopped. Naruto twitched slightly as the shinobi in front of him slowly turned his head and looked right into Naruto's eyes. The boy was honestly frightened when the man got in closer, and smelled the air a little bit.

"What was that?" the man asked.

The leader of the trio rolled his eyes underneath his masked, sighed loudly, and threw his arms up, "What is it now?"

"You guys feel that?" he asked again.

The other two both asked him, "What?"

"That...! It feels warm right here..." the one shinobi described slowly as he reached out and felt up the protective shield.

The other two walked up to their partner and almost decided to walk through the enchantments until they activated one of them and stopped right in their tracks. They both froze, blinked, and then turned away walked back the way they came. The leader said simply, as if they were not even his own words, "I don't care. I don't sense anyone nearby. We have to report back to the boss at once."

"The bridge-builder must have survived the Demon Brothers, then?" the other said back on their original topic.

The leader replied, "The old man probably hired shinobi from Konoha. One of the elites. The only kind of shinobi that could have taken them down."

"You think? Then, we gotta report back to the boss. C'mon! Let's hurry!" said the other.

The shinobi in front of Naruto remained where he was, pulling his mask off of the lower half of his face and revealing unusually sharp and almost demonic-looking teeth. He smelled the air again and caught the same scent that attracted him over to the protective dome in the first place. Naruto got face-to-face with the older man and didn't dare to let a single breath out of his body or even let a drop of sweat escape from his face to hit the grassy ground. The older man looked around, studying Naruto's frozen face, if he didn't think he was looking into endless forest, and pulled his mask up over his face in defeat.

"Hmm... Weird, it smells like Head & Shoulders over there..." he said as he turned to join the rest of his group.

And just like that, the small team of shinobi decided to depart and disappeared into the dark of the night, heading down south by the looks of it. Once he was sure they were gone, Naruto let out a great sigh of relief and took a deep breath of air as if he hadn't been breathing for several minutes.

'_Holy crap, that was scary...! They could still smell me..._' he said through his thoughts.

Harry threw in a suggestion, '**_Maybe next time when you take a shower at Iruka's house again, how about you use less shampoo? You emptied out half the bottle last time._**'

'_Yeah, I'll get around to that. But did you hear all that stuff earlier? Someone out there must really want Tazuna dead. It really makes you wonder who it might be._'

Naruto soon backed away from the enchantments and made his way back to camp, unaware of how much time he had spent out there in the forest alone. He made his way in through the tight line of trees and arrived back at camp where Tazuna, Sakura, and Sasuke were notably absent. Naruto looked surprised and searched the camp before he relaxed and found them laying down in their sleeping bags, asleep. Or in Tazuna's case, he was sleeping away in a large tent that he had packed with him in his notably large traveling pack.

"So that's why he had such a big backpack...!" he said with his brow raised.

Just then, a voice rang out to him, "Looks like someone enjoyed their _unusually long_ bathroom break."

Naruto jumped when his sensei seemed to appear out from nowhere and paused before looking at his watch and realized he had been gone for almost a complete half-hour. He then started to rub at the back of his head nervously and curled his fingers into his hair to start calming himself down.

"Oh yeah... real emergency, I decided to have the special at Ichiraku Ramen just before we got this mission. Didn't settle with me too well." he lied convincingly.

Kakashi nodded his head, showing that he believed his student.

"So is everyone else asleep?"

His teacher told him, "Looks like it, doesn't it?"

"Well, guess I should finish up and head to bed as well-Oww!"

Naruto had sat down and picked up his share of food but then his right arm twitched and he dropped the food onto his lap. Kakashi spotted the physical gesture and Harry saw the teacher's only eye sharpen and squint in suspicion. Kakashi stood up and sat down next to his student. Naruto looked up to his teacher in surprise and raised his eyebrows when he held out his hand as if he should give him something.

"Show me your arm, Naruto. The right one... Right now." he ordered.

Naruto felt his face flush slightly as he held out his right arm and Kakashi took it. He heard his teacher suddenly sniff at his arm as if he were a search dog and then closed his eyes when he rolled up his orange sleeve. Kakashi studied the patch of pale skin and darkened veins and sighed in disapproval and slight anger at his student.

"Just as I thought..." he said disapprovingly.

Naruto asked him, "What?"

"Why didn't you tell me that one of the Demon Brothers injured you?" he asked with a subtle tone of anger in his voice.

His student jumped slightly and asked, "W-what? How d'you know?"

"I can smell your blood as well as the poison they used on their blades. It's all over your arm." he said.

The man's student looked shocked and impressed that Kakashi managed to make that assessment as he thought he had wiped the evidence clean with magic, "You can... smell it?"

"Not everyone knows this, but I have an unnaturally sharp sense of smell. I'm not sure if _you_ know but my sense of smell is greater than any one member of the Inuzuka clan. Because of this, some people have come to believe that I'm actually part wolf." Kakashi informed him with a slight sense of humor but still he sighed, "But still, you should have told me from the get-go that you were injured..."

Naruto hung his head slightly, "I'm sorry, sensei... I didn't want to slow the team down for my sake..."

"Completing the mission is not the most important thing in the world." Kakashi stated very clearly, "To me, comrades and good friends, like you, are far more important than any mission..."

Kakashi's student looked up to him with admiration glowing in his sparkling blue eyes as Kakashi slightly caressed the skin of Naruto's arm that appeared to be poisoned. He studied the damage done and spotted that the skin on Naruto's arm was almost completely healed and that new slightly paler skin replaced the tissue that was damaged. Kakashi was expecting to see his skin still bloody and shredded when he caught the scent, but he was surprised, especially since Naruto's clothes somehow remained undamaged (but then he assumed that he must have had them changed in private). But then he assessed that Naruto obtained a rapid healing power from the fox sealed inside of him, as he sensed a powerful energy surrounding the healed wound.

Kakashi felt the need, despite Naruto having the fox constantly heal him, he should still take safety precautions and fix up Naruto in an appropriate way. Even if Naruto healed from the wound, there was still a chance that there could still be some poison left in him. Kakashi reached into his bag and pulled out a plastic medical kit, filled with very basic medical supplies. Naruto watched as he opened it and pulled out a small needle with some clear liquid inside of it. Kakashi squirted out a few droplets of whatever was in the needle and tapped it a little to check for pockets of air. Once done, he held Naruto's arm down on his knee firmly and got ready to inject him with it.

"Okay, relax your arm and just hold still." he said calmly.

Naruto protested at once, "Hey! Hold it right there! I'm not exactly a fan of shots or needles!"

"Don't worry, Naruto, it's just an emergency injection of penicillin. That poison the Demon Brothers used on their weapons can stay in your system even after you healed up from it. We're too far away from a hospital to remove the rest of the poison from your body, so we will have to make do with this and give you some medicine… Just relax for me, okay, I don't want you dying on me.." Kakashi calmly explained and with a subtle feel of fatherly concern in his voice with that last bit.

After that explanation for his reasons as to injecting him, Naruto let him handle his arm and gave him a quick poke. Naruto winced slightly as he felt the medicine flow through his veins and watched miraculously as his slightly darkened veins turned back to their original color. Kakashi soon wiped some sanitation wipes and wrapped some white cloth around where the needle went in.

'_**This man is aware that in between me, and the fuzzball fox demon that all that poison in your body did was give you a slight restriction in you arm and headache before you got here, right?**_'

'_Somehow, I doubt that, Nii-san..._' Naruto replied.

Once it was finally over and Naruto's slightly scarred arm was patched up and seemingly fixed, the boy smiled at his sensei for his good intentions, "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei..."

"No problem. Now get to bed, we have a big day tomorrow!" he commanded kindly.

Naruto finished what was left of his food and got up to go to bed after he saluted his sensei, "Yes, sir!"

As Kakashi watched his student get himself settled in, he couldn't help but let his eyes relax and feel himself thinking back to someone whom Naruto reminded him of greatly. For a second, Kakashi envisioned Naruto with jet-black hair, darker clothes, and large goggles worn over his headband. Soon, Kakashi snapped out of it and looked to the fire, stoking it occasionally, while his student slept peacefully.

* * *

><p>Several miles away in a deep forest with trees that grew as tall as skyscrapers and as thick as buildings themselves; there stood an unusually structured hideout built around a strong and sturdy tree. The building itself was crafted into the shape of a spinning top and held together by numerous steel wires and bridges leading from other surrounding trees that appeared to be hollowed out and made as extensions to the center building. Deep inside this fortress, a very short man with a very ugly mustached face and wearing a highly expensive business suit with round sunglasses, was seen standing at the entrance to a massive guest hall that he owned. The short man, who was being accompanied by a tall and bald thug also wearing a suit entered the room to see the three shinobi from earlier bowing down to him in respect, while their true leader sat down on one of the big couches in the center of the lounge.<p>

The three ninja who were bowing down to the short man slowly explained what they had gathered about their partners the Demon Brothers and informed them of the assassination failure. The short man growled like a gremlin before he pointed one of his fat and stubby fingers at the man sitting down on the couch.

"WHAT? WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY FAILED?" the short man outraged as everyone in the room, except for the bald thug, did not flinch or move upon the outrage of this short, tiny man as they where royally chewed out and ranted on for several minutes, "You said that your men would be able to take them down in one attack! YOU LIED TO ME, DEMON! A THIEF OF PAID SERVICES!"

The man on the couch made a menacing grunt and gripped the handle of his weapon. The short man twitched and gasped in a high-pitched voice as a massive broadsword shaped like a giant butcher knife with a circle carved out of the top and a semicircle cut out near the two-foot long leather-bound handle was swung and pressed against his trembling neck. The short man almost wet himself as his bald thug jumped and looked in between his boss and the man on the couch holding the massive weapon as if it weighed only ounces.

"Hey..." the man spoke with a low and menacing voice, "Why don't you just shut up, little man..." the small man struggled to breath as he felt a heat of killer-intent leak out of this terrible man that he hired to ensure that Tazuna would be killed, "Chill out, sit back, and relax... With my blade, Kubikiribōchō, I will go down there and kill the bridge builder myself... This sword will be the last thing he will ever see..."

"A-are you really up to it...?" the tiny man stammered nervously, "The old man has apparently hired ninja from the village of Konohagakure, the most powerful shinobi village in the entire world. Those Demon Brothers of yours tried and failed and now they're fish food. By now, they'll be expecting you to attack them soon... They'll be waiting for you to show up and they won't stop expecting you until you are-"

The other man interrupted him coldly,"Remember who the hell you're talking to, you greedy little goblin... I am Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist..."

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><p>To Be Continued...<p>

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><p><strong>Kvsyaoran: (Cover in black soot and coughing) Well, that ended smoothly. <strong>

** Naruto: What?**

**Kvsyaoran: I said that ended pretty smoothly! I should get back to work!**

**Naruto: I didn't hear the second part! But I will assume that it wasn't important! By the way, what's the Crunch?**

**Kvsyaoran: Watch The Mighty Boosh and you'll understand completely! I gotta go and possibly get a doctor to check your ears! Mine as well!  
><strong>

**Naruto: What?**

**Kvsyaoran: Forget it! **

**Naruto: WHAT?**

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><p>Remember to read and review, fuzzy, little man-peaches! :)<strong><br>**


	4. The Assassin of the Mist

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura/Giant Zabuza

'_Blah_': Naruto's Thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

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><p><strong>Hello everybody! I'm glad that I have finally finished this chapter and I am very excited to hear what you have to say about it!<strong>

** Um, I don't really have that much to say this time around, except that I'm still working on some tune-ups for the Legendary Sannin, Book 4. I'm sure it's going to be great! Lots of action, magic, and fighting!Oh! I would like to announce a slight change in the design of Naruto's weapon that he receives in the Chunin Exams. I decided to have the weapon's appearance changed to a blade very similar in structure to either Link's Ordon Sword from Twilight Princess or the sword** **Rhindon from the Chronicles of Narnia. Nothing major, just a slight structural change and that's all. And I guess that's pretty much it.  
><strong>

**Now I must continue with writing this story, so let's roll up our sleeves and get ourselves started!  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, **

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling, **

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><p>Chapter 4: The Assassin of the Mist<p>

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><p>The following morning, sometime around dawn, Naruto got up before anybody else did and left the campsite to take a morning tinkle... as well as cancel out the protective enchantments he prepared last night. He had to watch as the transparent shields seemed to turn into solid glass before they cracked and shattered into burning dust and then nothing. With the destruction of the shields, Naruto looked out over the cliff to a pale-pink morning sky of the east. He noticed that the forest continued to stretch on for at least another mile before it seemed to end and all Naruto could see was a storm white clouds. Naruto let the wind coming from the east push him back toward the camp before he turned around and got started on packing.<p>

Less than an hour later, Team 7 was completely ready to continue on with their journey to the Land of Waves just as soon as Tazuna finished packing away the last of his private tent. Once he was done, Kakashi led the group down a steep trail that leaned against the cliffside and got them down to the ground far below. Once the were down lower, they started to head southeast and continued to walk for another hour. Naruto smelled the air and felt the wind blow stronger as they kept walking. Before long, Kakashi and the others emerged out of the forests of the east and were greeted by a vast and visually endless deep-blue ocean and the wide-open sky.

Naruto gasped at the sight of this place, as it was the first time in his life that he had ever seen the sea with his own eyes. He closed his eyes as the cool, salty wind blew his hair back constantly as he could hear the seagulls screech as they flew overhead mixed with the constant ebb and flow of the shifting sea, like the breathing of some great, slumbering creature. He soon opened up his eyes and followed the group down to the shore where they found a small boat dock where a middle-age man wearing similar clothes and hat as Tazuna was waiting along with a motor boat capable of holding up to thirteen people. Tazuna led the way to the dock, strangely enough, where he approached the man with the boat as if he were expecting him.

"Tazuna, you made it after all...!" said the man.

The older man opened up his arms and said in greeting, "What? You didn't think I'd make it, Kaji?"

"To be honest, no..." the boatman replied, "So I take it that this crowd of four are the ninja of Konoha you hired?"

The old man sighed and replied, "That's right. This is Kakashi Hatake and his three student ninja."

"Three kids and a scarecrow? Well, if I were you, I would start writing up my own will..." sighed the boatman.

Kakashi rolled his only eye as the boatman let Tazuna and the rest of the crowd into his boat. Naruto shook off what the boatman said earlier and settled in close to the front, so he could see the sea first hand. Sakura sat behind him and so did Sasuke, while their teacher decided to stay in the back, close to Tazuna. The boatman soon untied the boat from several dock posts and jumped in himself. The man got in the back and pulled a number of special levers before he got the boat started. With that, the motor on their boat roared like an animal and began to buzz and vibrate their transport slightly as they started to move at a steady pace toward the endless ocean. Sakura started to turn slightly green until she reached into her pouch and pulled out some stomach pills to help her through the trip. Harry rolled his eyes at her weakness.

In no time at all, the boat started moving faster and the boat's engine roared all the same as the shore of the Land of Fire grew further and seemed to dissolve away through the cascading waves and slowly growing mist. Naruto looked back to see the land of his home slowly disappear. The boat bounced slightly, causing Sakura to yelp and occasionally scream until the boat stabilized and started to go up and down gently against the water. Naruto couldn't resist itching a little bit more towards the bow of the boat as he watched the salty water constantly splash, shift, and bounce as their boat cruised toward the east. For the next forty-five minutes or so, Naruto was content with staying up in the front where the boat moved up and down the most, so he could let the salty sea-water splash his face in an indescribably soothing way. The boy occasionally reached down the starboard bow and brushed the backs of his fingers against the surface of the wonderfully cold water, only to have Sakura kick him to stop doing that.

Sasuke smirked at seeing Naruto being scolded by Sakura for enjoying himself and tried to resist the hidden urge to throw up as he suffered from sea-sickness. Naruto and Kakashi, on the other hand, were the only people from Konoha that remained unaffected by the sea and even seemed to enjoy the experience.

Naruto looked on ahead as the thrill began to settle down a bit and he noticed that they were about to enter a storm of thick mist. He looked up and tried to see where it ended and was surprised to see that the cloud of mist rose up high into the clouds, it seemed. The boat still entered the mist, the boatman Kaji looking intent and determined upon going into it head-first. Team 7 looked behind them as the blue seas and sky vanished into a maze of thick fog. Naruto tried to see the way out but no matter how many times he squint his eyes, he was unable to find a way through. The fog was so thick, that he could barely even see the boatman or even his teammates. The fog was so thick, that it started to dampen Naruto's clothes and cause his hair to fall down as if it were dunked with water.

Just out of nowhere, the boatman shut off the engine and started rowing the boat as it slowed down to a steady pace. Naruto itched toward the starboard side, hoping Sakura didn't hear him shifting, and looked down at the water, to see it change to a darker hue of blueish-green. He dipped his hand into it and felt the cold water of the sea calm down until it seemed as if the boat were sailing upon liquid glass. He soon sat back into his seat and looked around to see his teammates reappear in darker hues of their original colors and shapes, as if an artist went crazy and smeared the world in pastels.

For about an hour, the boat sailed through the fog steadily, their boatman paddling through the water as if he knew exactly where he was going. He rowed through the water with ease as his passengers looked around for any sign of land or anything for that matter. It was at the end of the hour did the boatman finally say something, clearly seeing something that the others were not able to.

"Up ahead... we'll be approaching the bridge any second..." he whispered oddly.

Naruto looked back, raising an eyebrow as to why the boatman was suddenly so quiet. He let it go quickly and looked on ahead and almost gasped as he saw a tall, dark structure suddenly appear through the mist. As the boat continued to be rowed, the structure became solid and was revealed to be one of the many supports to a massive bridge built of steel and concrete. Starting from the surface of the water to the highest point of the bridge itself, the structure must have stood over two hundred, maybe even three hundred feet up above the peak of the shifting waters. Naruto silently awed at the sight of the bridge as it was the largest man-made structure he had seen outside of his own village. He smiled as he looked up and tried to hear the sound of busy carpenters working on some construction work right above them, but could hear nothing yet.

"It's huge!" Sakura breathed.

The boatman quickly became angry, "Quiet, " he hissed at Sakura, "Why do you think we're traveling like this? Cutting off the engine, rowing my ass off, using the fog as a cover? It's so they don't see us!"

"Who exactly is _they_, may I ask?" whispered Naruto as Kakashi looked to Tazuna suspiciously.

Kaji looked to the bridge-builder and asked him, clearly oblivious of the events from yesterday, "What? You mean you haven't told them why you hired them, Tazuna?"

The jounin in the back of the boat now fully turned to their client with an upset look on his masked face as the old man lowered his head in a mixture of humiliation and shame. Tazuna apparently told a few people that he would be coming back to the land with the promise of bringing hired shinobi to protect him until the end of the bridge project. Harry also took an interest into this mishap and tried to determine what exactly it was that Tazuna seemed to be hiding after reading his facial expressions carefully.

"Tazuna-san, before we reach the shore, I wish to ask you something about this person who is after you for retribution… Exactly who is he and why is he after your life? If you don't answer me, we will still have to call off this mission and drop you off once we reach the shore..."

The old man hesitated for several minutes before he finally decided to answer, "Alright... I will tell you the truth, it's best that you know anyway... there is a very short man out there in the world that casts a long and deadly shadow, a man filled with nothing but evil and greed... Perhaps you have heard of him, he's a billionaire in the field of marine transportation... You heard of him?"

"Who is he?" Kakashi asked with an eye of interest.

Tazuna looked up past the fog and answered him, "His name is Gatō."

"What?" Kakashi looked surprised, " Gatō? You don't mean of Gatō Shipping and Transport? The Gatō? He's the richest man in the world!"

The old man replied and explained, "Not to mention the greediest and most despicable man in the world. On the surface, he's looks like another business tycoon, but it's all an act, covering up what it is that he truly does to increase his wealth and success. He's a murdering criminal; employing violent gangs and missing-nin as you call them. He also traffics drugs, contraband, and even people; selling them as slaves other people like himself. As he attains his accumulating wealth, he uses it to buy or take over companies and uses his gangs and hired shinobi to take over entire countries, starting with smaller ones such as the Land of Waves..."

Team 7 looked at Tazuna with their own individual looks of surprise or interest.

"About one year ago, he set his sights on our small country. He came in and used his vast wealth to take over our entire islands shipping and transport, saying that it was for the good of his business. Anyone that had something to say to him about his actions, or protested against his actions, whether extreme or through simple request, just mysteriously disappeared... When you are an island nation, the one who controls the sea controls everything that the island has to offer; finance, government, the lives of the very people... But there is one thing that threatens Gatō's control over my land; the completion of my new bridge. Once it is done, the Land of Waves will be connected to the mainland and Gatō's control over us will vanish. That 's why he wishes me dead, why he sent those shinobi assassins after me."

Nobody said anything for a while until Kakashi popped another question.

"Now, tell me, if you knew all of this was going to happen, then why didn't you ask for more qualified shinobi? Request for a B-Rank mission, instead of a C-Rank?"

Tazuna answered with his head sunk down again at the reminder of what he almost caused to happen, "The Land of Waves hasn't been rich ever since Gatō came to town. He sucked all our financial resources dry, the lords of our country have become poor and desperate as a result of this. They have resorted to inflating our taxes, milking us dry of every last ryo or dollar we have just to balance the country. I'm poor as well and I can't afford to request for a B-Rank mission, so I had to make do and hope that the ninja I hire from a C-Ranked assignment would still pull through for me..."

Kakashi looked to the old man with a look of pity in what little of his face he allowed to be seen.

"If you guys drop me off on the shore, I will be killed without a doubt..." Tazuna soon looked up and put all four of the ninja on one hell of a guilt trip, "But don't any of you worry about all that! Sure, my grandson will be very upset and never stop crying over me, leading him to a life of nothing but misery! Oh, and knowing my daughter, she will condemn the shinobi of Konohagakure, denouncing and blaming you for abandoning her father and living the rest of her life in sadness and sorrow. But as I said before, it served me right for lying to you, so you have nothing to feel guilty about. I'm sure!"

As Tazuna told them all this, everyone in the group except for Sasuke, looked more and more guilty. After some quick and silent discussing among comrades, Team 7 made a new decision with the mission. Kakashi shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, what do we _really_ have to lose? We may as well see this through to the end."

"Awww, thank so very, very much! I feel so very grateful!" Tazuna thanked them as he thought to himself in complete and total victory, '_Gotcha, suckers! Guilt trip for the win!_'

* * *

><p>Another half-hour later, the boatman silently announced to his passengers that they were getting close to the shore. Naruto looked on ahead and spotted a solid brick wall where the the gigantic bridge grew out from. There were dark tapestries hanging over the wall so that none of the construction accidentally damaged the wall that protected the village on the other side. The boat soon rowed it's way straight into one of them and entered a secret gate that led them into a dimly-lit tunnel system. They ventured forth into the tunnel, making sharp and sudden turns before going forward again and plunging themselves deeper and deeper into darkness. The boat slowly streamed through the tunnels and made a few more turns before they peddled forth for one last time and saw the light of day brightly shining through a corridor of darkness around it.<p>

Tazuna explained as they got in closer to the light, "These tunnels were made a year ago when Gatō first came to town when we attempted to resort to smuggling goods out of the country, but it didn't work out well in the end. Eventually, we had to shut down the project and decided to go with creating the bridge."

When they burst through the end of the tunnel and plunged into the light, the team was blinded temporarily until their sights returned and were met by a splendid sight of a wonderfully simple town made of earth and wood. What surprised Naruto and left him without a breath in his body was that the entire town seemed to hover above the sea and that there were trees that were scattered all throughout the town. The trees were fed from below the water, creating a sort of floating forest. Naruto could smell the scent of the trees, which he recognized as the smell of his home, mixed with the scent of cool air and salty seas. The team looked around and took in the sights of the silent water-town and noticed that the storm of mist and fog had cleared and seemed to end just outside of the protective wall.

Before long, the boat finally stopped moving and docked next to an old bait shop on the other end of the town. Once they stopped, Tazuna and his hired help crawled out of the boat and on to dry land. Naruto stood up ahead of the group and stretched his legs as he had been sitting in a boat for almost two hours. He limbered up as Sasuke stared at him oddly and Sakura kept throwing hearts at Sasuke at seeing his hair having been dampened during the journey through the dense fog. Tazuna bid the boatman farewell and Kaji, in turn, wished the best of luck to his friend. Before long, they were back on the road again and into another forest. Tazuna confessed his genuine gratitude as Kakashi just nodded his head and walked on, thinking this client to be the worst possible client of his professional career.

Team 7 listen to Tazuna's directions to his home, which was located on the third island of the country. They had to travel into a deep forest with trees that were shorter than those found in Konoha, but were somehow, much softer, as if they had been absorbing moisture for years. Naruto walked on ahead and opened his eyes as he noticed Sasuke started to catch up to him and walk ahead of the group to seem in charge or more important. Naruto rolled his eyes at him and looked around the impressive and alien scenery. As Naruto looked around, he felt a slight pain right above his right eye twitch occasionally as a chill crept up and down his spine as the sounds of animals and insects started to fade away into unnatural silence.

{{_Ragnar Sturlusson by Alexandre Desplat_}}

'_Do you feel that Harry? Someone's here... I can feel it..._' he said as Harry stretched out his senses.

'**_Yeah, I sense it too. Whoever it is will be more powerful than the last two or those three jokers from last night. Whoever it is, leave it to Kakashi unless we absolutely need to get involved._**'

'_No argument from me, Nii-san._'

Suddenly, Naruto heard a rustle in a bush up ahead in the road that caused his heightened senses to alert him of an unknown and possible dangerous presence having appeared out of nowhere. Sasuke spotted Naruto's twitch and looked where he looked as well, toward the bushes. Kakashi sensed it as well, only he did not move or feel the need to be on alert. Naruto, out of pure instinct, decided to throw a kunai into the the bushes and Sasuke copied him, using a shuriken. Their weapons both hit each other, only instead of canceling each other, they hit their intended target with spot-on accuracy.

Everybody then twitched or jumped at the sporadic actions of both Sasuke and Naruto as dead-silence permitted the empty road.

"I heard something. Way to go and copy me, dobe." Sasuke explained in a cool voice.

Naruto growled and started to yell at Sasuke, "LIAR! YOU'RE JUST COPYING ME FOR YOUR OWN SELFISH REASONS, YOU ARROGANT TOSSPOT!"

"_What are you trying to do, scare us half to death, you micro-sized shrimp!_" the old bridge-builder shivered and then roared at Naruto furiously.

Naruto growled as that was the last straw for him. The boy started running at Tazuna until both Sakura and Sasuke held him back with little difficulty, "I'M NOT A SHRIMP! LET ME AT HIM! LET ME AT HIM!"

Eventually, it took Harry to get Naruto to calm down over being insulted about his height and the boy eventually blew off enough steam to let it slide, but just barely. Kakashi walked over to where Sasuke and Naruto's weapons went flying and found, much to his shock, that a white rabbit was laying down against the base of a tree. Kakashi saw it scared out of it mind as both his students weapon were lodged into the tree, right in between it's trembling ears. Sakura pushed Naruto to the side rudely and caught a glimpse of the shaking little white rabbit. Sakura turned livid at Naruto and started scolding him after she punched him in the head as hard as she could.

"Naruto-baka! Look what you did!" she pointed at the poor creature, ignoring the fact that Sasuke also did the exact same thing, but could have done more damage as he was copying.

The blonde boy immediately protested upon seeing the bunny, "ME? Sasuke-teme did just as much damage! Go and hit him!"

Naruto soon withdrew from the small argument that started as he gave up with trying to convince Sakura that Sasuke did just as much damage to the rabbit as he did. Naruto tried to coax the rabbit both he and his teammates scared as he quickly noticed something very wrong about the small and innocent creature.

'_White fur? But it's the wrong season. Aren't wild rabbits supposed to have a brown color in summer, Harry?_'

Harry contemplated and assumed that this rabbit must have been raised in-doors by the looks of it and only served the purpose of a Replacement Jutsu. Naruto was right to throw his knife into the bushes as there was a shinobi hidden away in those bushes only a few short seconds ago. Now, Harry sensed, they were up in the trees and ready to attack the group at a moments notice.

"EVERYONE! GET DOWN!" Kakashi yelled.

From out in the trees, a huge silver object zoomed out towards the crowd, appearing as if it were a giant metal disk. Everyone managed to fall down flat as they were commanded, Naruto falling down on his back and catching a glimpse of his reflection for a split second. The object, revealed to be a gigantic sword, was lodged into a nearby tree and standing on top of it a split second later, was a man unlike any that Naruto had ever seen before with his own eyes. A tall and noticeably muscular man with pale skin, short spiky black hair, brown eyes, and small (barely visible) eyebrows. He wore bandages like a mask over the bottom half of his face, a Kirigakure headband worn sideways on his head, baggy pants with a striped pattern, and mimetic wrist-warmers extending up to his elbows, with matching leg-warmers. He wore no shirt, showing off his large and impressively muscular structure, but he did wear a belt to which he attached his currently withdrawn weapon.

Harry commented, '_**That is one big sword...**_'

When the dust settled, everyone stood up and looked up in the tree to see the new assassin standing tall on top of his blade's handle, letting his huge arms fall at his sides lazily. Kakashi put his hands back into his pockets and looked up at the other man with a look of seriousness and slight interest as he seemed to recognize him from somewhere.

"Zabuza Momochi, the little kid who ran away from his home of the Land of Water!" he said.

The only Uchiha in the group suddenly stepped forward, as he looked intent upon attacking Zabuza Momochi himself. But then Kakashi stopped him. Not using any form of physical force, but using only his voice.

"Sasuke. If you _dare_ interfere with this fight again like with the stunt you pulled yesterday, I will have you expelled from the shinobi program and strip you of your headband. Stay back."

Each of the genin looked very surprised by their sensei's words, as he sounded so serious that the performance he pulled during the bell test couldn't compare. Sasuke took a step back as he looked slightly insulted at his teacher's threat, Sakura looked just as insulted, as Naruto noiselessly snickered and pointed at Sasuke for being yelled at by the teacher for a change. Zabuza tilted his head like a curious child as Kakashi reached up to his headband and slowly began to removed from over his left eye.

"At last," said Zabuza in a chilling voice, "I can have the pleasure of fighting Kakashi of the Sharingan... This is gonna be fun! But... How about you make my job a little easier and surrender the old man?"

Tazuna twitched and so did Sakura as Sasuke twitched for an entirely different reason. Harry raised one of his eyebrows as he heard the word Sharingan mentioned and so did Naruto. The boy pretended to play dumb as if he were oblivious as to what the Sharingan was. Kakashi called out to his team and had them assume the Manji Formation around Tazuna so to protect him while Kakashi was about to busy himself with the upcoming fight. The trio of rookies all had their backs to each other as Tazuna stood only one foot away from them. Kakashi soon removed his headband back up to his forehead, revealing a long, thin scar running down his closed left eye. Just then, he opened the damaged eye and revealed it to be a Sharingan eye.

Naruto had learned about the Sharingan in _An Unbiased History of the Hidden Leaf Village_, but still he listened in as Sasuke explained what it was in his own light, "The Sharingan is an extremely powerful form of dōjutsu that allows the user to instantly see through and comprehend any form of taijutsu, genjutsu, or ninjutsu that an enemy uses... But there is so much more to the Sharingan's power than just that... So much more..."

The boy raised one of his eyebrows as Sasuke mentioned that extra bit of information at the end, the author of the book having never mentioned the Sharingan being able to do anything apart from copying a jutsu, hypnosis, the ability to see the flow of chakra through any person or thing, and heightening the users abilities as it develops through time and training. Naruto caught a glimpse of his teacher's Sharingan, seeing a normal red eye with three black tomoe circulating around the central black pupil in a pinwheel pattern.

Just as Zabuza began to chuckle at the idea of being able to fight a warrior who could wield such a powerful ocular jutsu, he admitted that it would be an honor. After that was said, another large storm of mist and fog swept into the road and from over the trees into the small lake just at the end of the road. The mist thickened and began to make everything feel more moist and cause all of the color in everyone's clothes, skin, and eyes to turn pastel-like again as it looked when they were first rowing into the country. Zabuza seemed to turn more grey than pale as he apparently caused more and more mist to roll in and create a cover for his up-coming attacks. Kakashi removed his hands from his pockets and tightened his fists, cracking his knuckles toughly in the process.

"Back in the day, when I worked as an assassin for Kirigakure, we kept this special little bingo book to keep track of our enemies. I remember that it had one hell of a read-up on you, Kakashi... It said that you are a man that has copied and mastered over one thousand different jutsu, and yet here you are, a strapping twenty-six year old man. That is if the date of your birth was correct in the book..."

Sakura and Naruto looked on to their sensei with admiration, while Sasuke looked at Kakashi in suspicion. He also looked as if something had been stolen from him and that he wanted it back. Probably due to the fact that the Sharingan is only supposed to be a special blood-trait passed down through the Uchiha clan only.

Zabuza tilted his head again and said, "I'm on a tight schedule, I'm here to off the old man, and I'm not leaving until the job is finished..."

The genin got in closer to their client as Kakashi got ready to fight, showing that none of them would simply stand aside and let this assassin go ahead and destroy the old man.

The grey-skinned assassin sighed, "Looks like I'm gonna have to kill you first, Kakashi... I hope you're up to it..."

Zabuza vanished and took his sword with him without making a single noise, such as the giant blade scrapping again the insides of the tree he threw it into. When Zabuza reappeared, everyone saw him standing on top of the water's surface. Naruto and the others gasped at this, as he could just barely see the grey-skinned man standing right on top of the lake's surface as if he were standing on solid ground. The assassin lifted his left arm straight up and above his head while he placed his other hand in front of his face as he started gathering a massive amount of chakra. The mist began to thicken more and surround Zabuza, slowly hiding him as if he were sinking deep into a cloud fallen down from the heavens.

He growled menacingly, "_Water Style: Hidden Mist Jutsu..._"

Kakashi called out to his students as Zabuza vanished into the dense fog, "He'll come after me first, you guys... But keep on your toes, this man was once the leader of the Assassination Unit of Kirigakure no Sato. He's a master of the Art of Silent Killing. A long time ago, he took down an entire team of advanced jounin without even trying while he used this technique. If you let your guard down for even one second, he will send you to the afterlife without you even realizing what had happened. The Sharingan cannot neutralize it, so no matter what happens, never-lower-your-guard."

The mist continued to thicken and cloud out everything in sight. Just as the fog continued to become more and more dense, Zabuza's voice penetrated the entire area and this sort of energy leaked out of Zabuza's very being as he moved through the mist without being sighted and blanketed the area with this potent power known as killing intent.

"**There are eights targets to choose from... The throat... spinal column... lungs... jugular... subclavian artery... kidneys... heart... So many choices, so many targets, only which one is the best one? Which of theses targets will I choose to kill each and every last one of you here, who have entered my realm so foolishly... And who shall I attack first...? The first one of you that happens upon my eyes or the first one of you that blinks... Or should I kill whatever one I find the most amusing to look at... They're all so color, even in this fog... **"

Sakura had almost given into the man's unbelievably scary voice and urinated herself by accident, though she refused to let herself falter or even lower her useless weapon. Tazuna had already succumb to the voice and was beginning to feel heavy and start to let himself fall to the ground. Naruto, seemed to be the only person in the group apart from Kakashi to appear calm and ready to fight. He managed to ignore Zabuza's killing intent because of his proficiency in Occlumency. But he looked over to Sasuke and saw him beginning to succumb to the power of killing intent far worse than anybody else. He was sweating his t-shirt wet and was slowly reaching for his kunai and was about to end his own life just to be rid of the unbearable suspense. Naruto looked upon his partner in pity for the first time in his life and was about to reach out and reassure him that everything was going to be okay until Kakashi solved the problem himself.

The jounin put his hands together and focused a large amount of chakra himself, casting away the killing intent as if his chakra were a powerful Patronus. Sasuke felt the weight of the pressure be lifted from his shoulders and so did Tazuna and Sakura.

"Sasuke. Calm down." he said, "I will protect you with my life, I promise this to all of you as well!" Everybody looked up to their teacher and felt warm and safe as he turned his head to them all and smiled his eye-smile once again and said in a strong and comforting voice, "I will not allow my comrades to die! Trust me."

"**I wouldn't count on that.**"

All of the people gathered together froze as Zabuza appeared out from nowhere, directly in the center of their tightly packed formation. Zabuza's enormous blade almost touched Naruto's throat, while the end of the hilt was pressed against the back of Sakura's head and caused her to open her mouth to scream but no noise escaped. Sasuke turned even more pale than he looked to begin with at the sound of the man's voice going off right behind him. Tazuna let out a terrified yell as Zabuza let himself move one centimeter to the left and reach back behind him for his sword to bisect him with one clean swing.

"Way too easy," the assassin growled lowly.

Naruto had to act, so he tripped and fell to the ground while he grabbed at Sasuke's ankles and dragged him down to the ground which caused a domino effect, taking down down Sakura and then Tazuna just as Kakashi reappeared and started wrestling with Zabuza. Naruto and the others scrambled away as fast as they could while Kakashi slipped a knife from out of his sleeve and shanked Zabuza right in the lower part of his torso, where his intestines were. But instead of bleeding out or dying right there on the spot, Zabuza laughed as if nothing were wrong and instead of bleeding out crimson blood, water started pouring out of his wound like a stream. Suddenly, Zabuza's entire body turned into water and collapsed onto the ground with a loud splash.

"Sensei! Watch out!" Naruto yelled as he pointed behind his teacher.

Kakashi looked behind him and spotted the real Zabuza right behind him (having materialized from the mist) and bisected Kakashi only for his body to instantly turn into water as well. Sakura let out a loud scream before she saw the water hit the ground again and almost calmed down. The grey-skinned muscle-man gasped as he had no idea that Kakashi could have used his Sharingan in this mist and managed to copy his Water Clone Jutsu. He then froze as he felt the cold metal of a kunai press down against his neck and start drawing out a trickle of blood.

"Don't you move, Zabuza." sounded the strong voice of Kakashi, "Now _that_ was way too easy."

Naruto slowly stood and regrouped with his teammates and the client as he started to chuckle and blush at his sensei's sheer awesomeness. Sakura giggled in victory while she tried to itch toward Sasuke, who had began to really calm himself down now that Kakashi had ensured their safety and continued to press that kunai of his against Zabuza's thick and pulsing neck. But as the end drew ever closer to him, Zabuza let himself smile behind his mask and beginning to chuckle darkly, his voice still sounding rough as if he had been smoking all his life.

"Heh... You managed to trick me well, Kakashi. Bravo!" the other man twitched slightly at how calm and cool Zabuza still sounded as any other shinobi would be either too frozen in fear or were ready to die, "You managed to copy my water clone and make your own copy without me noticing, forcing me to believe that it was you all along, well done! But unfortunately for you, Kakashi..."

A second copy of Zabuza came from out of the mist at speeds too fast for anyone to have noticed and he got in close to Kakashi's ear and whispered to him in that same creepy voice.

"I'm not that easy to fool..."

Kakashi's eye widened as Naruto openly gasped when the Zabuza that Kakashi was holding down collapsed into water. The real Zabuza behind him swung his giant blade back effortlessly and swung it at Kakashi horizontally, as if he were trying to slice him in two again. But with his advanced physical prowess, Kakashi crouched down low and flipped backward, landing all the way behind Zabuza with kunai in hand. Zabuza sensed his opponent would do that, so he kept the swing of his sword going, hoping Kakashi would not react in time. But Kakashi ducked down in time, the blade just barely missing him and only managed to slice three silver hairs from his head. With spectacular acrobatics on his side, Kakashi pushed off against the ground and literally kicked Zabuza's blade right out of his hands with a loud bang.

Zabuza growled like an animal while Naruto looked at his sensei in total awe at his abilities, imagining him as a superhero again.

The assassin of the mist quickly drew out a curved kunai as Kakashi came in at him with the same knife as he had before. The two men clashed and started pushing at each other, engaged into a battle of physical strength. Kakashi didn't even break a sweat as Zabuza growled and tried to intimidate Kakashi by glaring at him in the eyes. Meanwhile, the violent man listened carefully as he heard the sound of his giant sword fall down about forty feet away and used a fair amount of chakra to disappear back into the maze of mist. Kakashi looked around and stretched out his senses to pin-point Zabuza's location. When he heard the sound of the man's blade being lifted from the ground and thrust his arm back and deflected his Kubikiribōchō before it had a chance to slice him.

The two men pushed against each other by their blades again, switching positions and coming back at each other, running at speeds so fast that all they seemed to the genin were dark and grey blurs. Zabuza swung his giant blade left and right as if it were a much smaller sword as Kakashi deflected each and every attempt made to kill him. Sparks flew like mad before they were at a draw again and pushing each others blades.

Kakashi smirked and said jokingly, "At least make it a challenge for me, Zabuza!"

The other man growled before he pushed Kakashi off of him again and disappeared into the fog again. When he reappeared, he went in for the kill, but Kakashi sensed him and threw his kunai at him, the knife hitting him right in between the eyes. But then, Zabuza exploded into white smoke as his body was replaced by a recently chopped off tree branch. Kakashi did not react in time as Zabuza went in and kicked Kakashi right in his side as he was beginning to turn around. Due to Zabuza's immense super-human strength, Kakashi set sent flying over sixty feet and splashed into the lake nearby. The genin and Tazuna all looked on in shock as their sensei sank into the murky depths of the water.

Kakashi swam back up to the water's surface quickly. When he broke the surface, he coughed and spurted briefly before he moved as quickly as he could out of the water. But as he tried to do so, it felt as if he weight a thousand pounds, the water wetting his clothes and hair was unnaturally dense to the point where it almost made him fall back in and drown, it was like trying to swim through a lake filled with humus. Just then, Kakashi gasped as he sensed it was chakra that made the water feel so unnaturally heavy. But before he could Shushin his way out, Zabuza appeared right behind him and ran through a complex number of handsigns.

"_Water Prison Jutsu!_"

Kakashi turned around too late and yelled, "NO!"

Within the space of only two seconds, Kakashi's entire body was enveloped in water and trapped within a constantly shifting sphere of crisp-blue water, the color given from Zabuza's massive amount chakra put into it. Kakashi was tossed and swirled inside of the blue sphere of water violently until his body finally settled and he was seen gently floating inside of the water as an air bubble came out of nowhere and supplied him with some much-needed oxygen. Kakashi gasped for breath and looked to his side to see Zabuza's hand penetrating the sphere and could sense his chakra flowing out of his palm and fueling the watery prison.

"This will keep you from interfering any further... I'll finish you off after I've killed the others... starting with the kids."

Kakashi almost lost it and tried to break free of his prison only to be stopped as if felt like his limbs and body were bound by chains made of steel. Zabuza raised his left hand to his face and lifted a single finger as his chakra flowed again to use another jutsu. Naruto looked down at his feet to see all of the water used from all the water clones sudden flow towards Zabuza and form into another water clone, only this one was much bigger and taller than Zabuza himself. This copy was at least eight feet tall and had larger arms and a bigger sword than it's original. Naruto looked up as he and the others were covered in shadow as the water clone took on identical physical characteristics to it's original, only they were much uglier.

{{_Confrontation With The Troll by John Williams_}}

The giant clone of Zabuza spoke with an even deeper and huskier-sounding voice as it looked down and sneered at the bridge-builder and children, "**You kids make the name of shinobi a joke. Thinking yourself at the same level as people like me, wearing a headband and calling yourself men. It's an insult! A true shinobi is a person who has crossed the realms of the living and the dead so many times, they can no longer feel phased them. Have become heartless weapons the were meant to become... We shinobi call people like you...**"

An even thicker cloud of mist surrounded the area so much, that Naruto could no loner see the original Zabuza or Kakashi. The giant had disappeared and when it reappeared again, Naruto failed to comprehend it as Harry's voice cried out for him to look out and his sight having gone white for a split second. Next thing he knew, he felt his body fly backward and hurl over ten or so feet before he crashed onto the ground very roughly, his face and hands scrapped badly. The clone Zabuza stomped his giant foot down with a great and powerful thud as Sakura screamed and Sasuke flinched in fear. Kakashi growled out in fury as he saw Naruto go flying and started to spit up some blood. Sasuke scrambled over and actually tried to help by picking up Naruto and drag him away from this giant monster.

Zabuza finished with, "**...Spoiled brats.**"

As the giant took a step closer toward his kids, Kakashi desperately gave out his command, "Listen to me! Get out of here! Take the bridge-builder and run! The clone won't be able to follow you that far and Zabuza will lose control of it once it's out of range! Save yourselves and leave me! Go! Go now!"

Sasuke tried to get his teammate away from the giant water clone, but Naruto couldn't move himself as he was so frightened by Zabuza's gargantuan form. He was about to follow along with Sasuke spinelessly, but then he stopped as two things happened. A slight pain pulse in his right arm and then he noticed that his headband was gone and currently being pressed into the earth by Zabuza's fat foot. He looked back at his still slightly-hurting poison wound from yesterday and looked back to his sensei and remembered what he had told him the previous night. Naruto thought back for a split second as to what he should do, he looked to his headband, which was one of his most treasured belongings, worth more to him than a vault of full of gold. At thinking of precious things, he flashed to Kakashi speech back at the end of the bell test and couldn't stand the idea of being considered worse than trash if he decided he would obey orders and abandon his sensei. He refused to let himself be disgraced and be a coward like he was a long time ago.

Naruto stood up, which surprised Sasuke as he chose to back off a little bit, "What are you doing, Naruto?"

The boy looked up, removing the look of fear on his face and replaced it with a face of untold determination and bravery that very few people have had the privilege of being able to see in person.

'_I'm sorry, Iruka-sensei..._' thought Naruto, '_But it looks like I won't be able to fully keep my promise to you after all..._'

The boy demanded in a low voice as he stared at his headband, "Give it back, Zabuza..."

"**What was that?**" the giant replied with a nasty smirk hidden beneath his mask of bandages, "**I couldn't hear you, pipsqueak.**"

Naruto unleashed his frustration at Zabuza both for making fun of him for his height and for refusing to remove his foot from one of his only treasures and he bolted, "GIVE IT BACK!"

"Naruto! NO!" Kakashi yelled for his student to stop.

The other genin were too shocked to have stopped their teammate and could only watch as the boy ran up to Zabuza and dove underneath him and tried to remove his headband from under his foot. Zabuza had swung his blade down upon Naruto, in an attempt to carve him in half, but it failed as Naruto dove just in time. The giant looked around as he was a bit too big to see Naruto underneath him. He took a large step forward and turned around to see Naruto finally re-obtaining his headband. Zabuza roared and threw a giant fist down upon the boy, but he dodged it by rolling back towards his team. When the boy stood up, Zabuza backhanded Naruto, sending him off his feet again and having him land right in front of a terrified Sasuke and Sakura.

Sakura started scolding his teammate for that stunt he pulled but was soon silenced once she realized that he only did it so that he could have his headband back, completely oblivious to it's worth to him.

As Naruto slowly stood up and looked on toward the giant Zabuza, he almost smiled as he started tying his headband back around his head, "Hey, Zabuza... I gotta ask, what's it like to not have eyebrows? I'm sure those things must have made you real popular before you ran away from home, huh?"

The giant, as well as the real Zabuza, growled at being made fun of for one of his only insecurities.

"You were saying earlier that Kakashi-sensei was mentioned in that bingo book of yours... Well I got a new name for you write down in it... The boy who will one day grow up to become the next Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato... My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'm ready to kick your ass..."

Naruto tightened his headband over his lightning bolt scar and looked up at giant-Zabuza's ugly mug without any trace of fear to be seen. Kakashi was appalled at how fearless Naruto was in the face of such danger, while Tazuna began to view Naruto in a new light, no longer seeing him as some tiny little pipsqueak wannabe shinobi. Zabuza growled at Naruto, both himself and his clone as the fear of death seemed to drain out of the blonde youth. Sakura stood still and blushed slightly as Naruto showed more backbone than herself or Sasuke did before. All she could do for now was just watch as Naruto took control.

"Sasuke." the boy called over to his teammate, "How about we set aside our differences for just this one time?"

The Uchiha looked to his partner and started to smirk again, "Hmph... That depends, do you have a plan?"

Naruto nodded as he wiped the blood from his lips and drew out a kunai to get ready to attack their enemy. Sasuke did the same thing as he withdrew a shuriken from his back pouch and got ready to fight. The giant Zabuza looked down upon his insignificant prey as he questioned their motives and tried to de-moralize them through simple questioning, being the arrogant thug that he was.

"**You stupid brats actually believe that you stand a chance against me?**" he asked them pompously.

Naruto replied honestly and he didn't seem to falter once, "To be honest, no."

"_What are you guys doing?_" outraged Kakashi from inside of the water sphere, "I told you to run! This fight was over the moment I got caught! Now get out of here! Focus on the mission!"

Naruto shook his head at his teacher and told him loud enough for him to hear but in a calm and strong voice, "Sensei... I'm not sure if you remember telling me this, but you once told me that completing the mission is not the most important thing in the world and that comrades and good friends, like you, are far more important." Kakashi looked on to his student in surprise as the boy started to frown and raised his voice a little louder and sounded so much more sure of himself, "I'm not going to run away and leave one of my friends behind!"

The boy turned around briefly and looked to his partner for approval, "Sasuke?"

"Right." he nodded.

Naruto turned to Tazuna as he needed to be sure that he was okay with taking on this risky rescue, "Tazuna?"

"What are you asking me for?" the old man said after a pause, "I got you guys into this mess, just because I wanted to live." Tazuna looked up and said, "Forget about me and do what you have to do to save your sensei! It's not like your being paid by the hour! Go and help him!"

The boy smiled at their client for a change as he and Sasuke quickly turned serious and bolted ahead at the clone Zabuza. They had to run up ahead and build up some space to fight without risking Tazuna's life. But Sakura decided to stick back and let the boys fight their fight and Harry made a snide remark about the girl's lack of involvement as she stood more behind Tazuna than by his side or in front of him. As the boys jogged on ahead, Sasuke sped up a little bit further than Naruto, the giant of Zabuza started chuckling at the genin as they got closer. He soon started laughing down at the genin, slow at first, but soon it picked up as he thought it to be some kind of highly amusing joke. Naruto and Sasuke both stopped in their tracks as there was more than enough room for them to fight the clone of the demon-assassin.

"**You haven't learned a thing from the example I set before... You still believe yourself to be shinobi and playing your little games...**" the giant tightened his grey hands and held them in front of himself as if he were holding something inside of them both and presenting it to the children and old man, "**By the time I was your age, I had already dyed my hands in the blood of my enemies...**" the giant Zabuza looked down at the children that dared to oppose him with a wicked and childish smile in his eyes, "**It's been so long since I've felt the blood of children stained on my hands... I kinda miss it...**"

Both Naruto and Sasuke trembled at the man's words and expression and backed away ever so slightly. Sasuke twitched slightly as Zabuza hid himself in the mist again, when he reappeared, Sasuke was punched in the gut and sent flying back a considerate number of feet. Naruto gasped as the enemy appeared out of the mist and thrust his arm down and pinned Sasuke to the ground, hitting him in the same spot again. Sasuke up-chucked a mouthful of blood as Naruto let out a yell of concern, Sakura screamed for him, as Kakashi's stress-levels began to sky-rocket. Zabuza stomped his foot down against the Uchiha's chest, tempted to crush his ribs under his foot, but resisted as he wished to chop his head off with his sword. The giant grasped the handle of his blade as Naruto put his hands together and growled the name of his signature jutsu.

"_Kage Bushin no Jutsu!_"

Over one hundred shadows clones appeared and surrounded Zabuza as they multiplied. Back with the real Zabuza, he looked amused that such a young genin could have mastered such an advanced jutsu. He commanded the giant water clone to get ready to defend itself and kill Sasuke if it must as all of the clones of Naruto drew out kunai and stormed at Zabuza's clone.

"Don't you dare touch him!" many of them roared.

All of the Narutos clambered and jumped on top of Zabuza's water clone and started stabbing him repeatedly, drawing out large portions of water instead of blood. The clone began to lose some of it's mass as the real Naruto got under his clones and picked out a jar of Wiggenweld potion from his bag. He crawled to Sasuke, who was knocked unconscious and opened up the jar to see some white smoke seep out from being chilled in his refrigerator for a while. Naruto swished the contents and drank a little bit of it before he turned to Sasuke and tried to wake him up, or at the very least, get him to open his mouth.

"Here..." he said quietly.

Naruto dripped whatever potion he had left in his jar and forced Sasuke swallow every drop. As he threw the jar back into his beaded bag, Sasuke sprang up and coughed as some potion fell down the wrong throat hole. He gasped for breath as he felt an unexplained surge of power flow through his body in seconds, making him feel as if he could shoot fire from his eyes. Naruto quickly whispered something to Sasuke before he told him to clear off and get to a safe distance. The Uchiha quickly got away from the giant as the massive mob of Naruto clones kept the giant at bay, giving the Uchiha enough time to get to a safe distance. The real Naruto, however, stayed behind and latched itself to the slowly shrinking Zabuza and tried to kill it.

But then the pile of clones began to rumble and the slightly shortened water clone let out a great roar. With that roar and a single swing of his sword, he threw all of Naruto's clones off of him. Tazuna gulped as Sakura cupped her hands over her mouth and muffled her scream. All of the clones were destroyed upon hitting the ground as their bodies were ground into the earth and shredded into nothing but white smoke. Meanwhile, the real one scrapped against the ground but reached into his beaded bag and threw the only ace-in-the-hole weapon he had on hand. He tossed it up and yelled for his partner's attention.

"_Catch it!_"

Sasuke jumped up into the air and flinched as he held in his left hand two retractable Fūma shuriken. Sasuke immediately noticed this but said nothing as he secretly thought of Naruto's untold plan to be brilliant. At once, Sasuke knew exactly what he must do. But instead of immediately enacting the plan, he thought he may as well start it off with some style. The Uchiha landed softly on the ground and rolled away from Zabuza's water clone so that he could retract the shuriken in a swift fashion. Once he stood, he held the shuriken in his left hand and closed his eyes before opening them up dramatically. Naruto rolled his eyes and Harry hit his head against a materialized steel desk.

Sasuke yelled dramatically, "_Demon Wind Shuriken: Windmill of Shadows!_"

With the clone of Zabuza clearly confused by Sasuke's pointless theatrics, Sasuke took the opportunity to jump up high into the air and tossed the large weapon toward Zabuza's general direction. The water clone scoffed at the attempt as the weapon turned into a jet-black disc and zoomed across the battlefield with a deafening whistle that seemed to grow louder with each passing second.

"A shuriken? You won't be able to touch me with one of those!" the diminished water clone stated arrogantly.

But then the shuriken spontaneously changed direction and zoomed straight for the real Zabuza stilling standing on top of the water and holding Kakashi prisoner. He tilted his head again like a curious child.

"Smart kid is doing the right thing and going for my real body... Very clever of him... However..."

As the Shuriken was about to slice at Zabuza diagonally, he grasped the ring of the blade firmly in his left hand while he still held strong the the swirling sphere of water that entrapped Team 7's teacher. But then he gasped when he found another identical shuriken hidden within the shadow of the first one thrown. Back at the shore, Sakura gasped in surprise as she too could see what had happened and informed Tazuna as he could not see it for himself. Naruto and Sasuke both stared intensely as they kept crossing their fingers and hoping that it would work. But just as the second shuriken was about to tear right through his legs, Zabuza jumped up in time as he let the weapon zoom right underneath him.

"I told you that a shuriken wouldn't touch me!" he smirked.

Sakura half-screamed as she was so shocked that Zabuza was still able to dodge their attacks, even while both of his arms were incapacitated. But Sasuke and Naruto smirked as their plan worked out perfectly, though it was Naruto's plan one-hundred percent. Without any warning, the blonde child exploded into white smoke as the first shuriken (currently held in Zabuza's hand) suddenly exploded into smoke and turned into the real Naruto. Zabuza turned his head in shock and yelled as he would never expect something like this to happen in a thousand years. Naruto jumped onto Zabuza's strong and sturdy arm and grabbed the man's spiky-haired head, digging his fingernails into Zabuza's face, and pulled him as well as his arm out of the sphere and into the lake below. With Zabuza completely distracted, his giant water clone collapsed and turned back into regular water again. But before Naruto could fall into the lake, he used whatever momentum he could gather and leapt off of Zabuza's hardened stomach and tried to crash into the waters of the lake further away so he could get away.

Instead of falling into the depths of the lake as would be expected, it appeared as if Zabuza crashed onto the ground with an inch of water to soften his fall. But when Zabuza hit against the surface of the water, he looked right into his Naruto's with a murderous look. As this would be the first and only time a boy had ever been able to completely ruin one of his missions, Zabuza exploded into a rage by the likes Naruto had never seen before in his life. He crashed into the lake with a splash as Zabuza scrambled up on his feet and reached for the handle of his blade, so that he could slice Naruto in half while he was still vulnerable and defenseless in the water.

"I'LL SLAUGHTER YOU!"

Naruto gasped in fright and tried to kick his way through the dense water, but it was too late as Zabuza swung his blade down upon him. But then his blade was instantly stopped as a loud clang and a slight grunt of pain was heard. Kakashi, thanks to his student, had escaped from his imprisonment and now stood atop the water, soaking wet from head to toe. Kakashi had held back Zabuza's entire sword by focusing a massive amount of chakra into his right fist and used the metal plate on one of his fingerless gloves for leverage. An alarming amount of Kakashi's blood started drooping out from under the cracked metal plate, but thankfully, his tightly focused chakra kept it from digging into his hand any deeper.

The jounin kept his head sunk down, as the water gathered deep inside his mop of silver hair slowly leaked out. His clothes continued to drain out and remove any extra weight he put on in being trapped inside of that water prison and felt lighter and more agile with every drop that fell back into the lake. Once enough water had been drained, Kakashi slowly looked up at Zabuza with a look so intense and so menacing, that Zabuza actually began to shiver in fear for the first time in his twenty years of being a shinobi.

Kakashi let out a growl and threatened him calmly, "Try to hurt him again, and I'll rip your freaking head off."

The boy below them started swimming his way back gradually to the shore as Kakashi continued to intimidate his opponent using only that same angry look on his face. Sakura let out a whoop of victory and repeated their sensei's name in a short chant while Sasuke closed his eyes in satisfaction and Tazuna let out a held breath of relief. Harry whipped the sweat gathered on his forehead and finally let himself breath again as he had been holding his breath this whole time now. He started focusing some magic up to the surface and helped to siphon out the energy inside the water around his little brother that made it so incredibly dense and heavy.

"Naruto..." their sensei complimented, "Your scheme was genius! You've already improved so much, haven't you?"

The boy blushed and giggled to himself and basked in the glow he so rightfully deserved to have. Instead of sticking around and explaining everything that he did in his plan, Naruto floated it out there in the water and gradually made his way back to the shore with the rest of team and leave himself out of the fight. As he started peddling his way through the less dense waters, Harry gave Naruto the feeling as if he were there in the water with him and hugging him like a worried parent would be for their endangered child.

'**_That was incredible, Little one! Terrifying and a little sloppy but still bloody brilliant!_**'

Once Naruto reached the shore of the lake and retreated to dry land, Zabuza grunted in aggravation as he saw Naruto return to his teammates safely. He soon turned to Kakashi and tried to excuse himself, saying that he was distracted and let his grip slip on the water prison. But Kakashi scoffed at Zabuza's pride and inability to admit that he was forced to let go of his jutsu. Zabuza grew a massive headache as he growled at Kakashi and stared him down, eye to Sharingan eye. Kakashi nodded his head slightly and let Zabuza make the first move. When he did, the assassin kicked off of the surface of the water, landing two hundred feet away from Kakashi while the Copy-Ninja mirrored his exact movements. When they both landed, giving each other over four-hundred feet of space to unleash their jutsu.

{{_Ice Bear Combat by Alexandre Desplat_}}

Zabuza ran through forty-three handsigns, executing all of them without hesitation or slipping. Kakashi did the exact saem thing, using his Sharingan eye to copy Zabuza perfectly and used the same jutsu they announced simultaneously.

"_Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!_"

Trailing from behind both adult shinobi, a massive amount of water erupted from around them rose up high into the air and took on the appearance of two identical long-necked and wingless dragons. Naruto looked up upon them in awe as they took on the appearance of two transparent Chinese Fireballs. The beasts of water attacked one another without showing any signs of stopping. One dragon bit into the neck of the other, only to splash and explode water all over the entire lake and surrounding areas. A massive amount of large and violent waves came crashing up on the shores and swiping the others off their feet. Tazuna was taken in by one of the waves while the children were taken before him and thrown up into the trees. Tazuna grabbed hold of a branch he was about to be hit by and held on for dear life as the children ahead of him already did. After a few minutes of just clinging onto trees for dear life, the dragons were locked in each others maw and the two shinobi that had created them were locked in weaponry combat once again.

Two dark blurs, that almost appeared as black and white smoke through the dense fog, kept bouncing off one another while they fought to kill one another. They ricocheted off of the ends of the lake or blasted off from trees and created sparks as their weapons clashed again and again, Zabuza with his Kubikiribōchō and Kakashi with one of his kunai. Sparks flew again and again even while the dragons of water were still locked and letting vast amount of water to splash down onto both men and were somehow unable to be slowed down.

When the last of the dragons were beginning to disappear above them, Zabuza and Kakashi were at a stand-still and pushing at one another with their weapons. Zabuza was irritated beyond belief as Kakashi was able to copy and perfect each and every one of his attacks and manage to keep him from even giving him a scratch. Something didn't feel right, as it wasn't supposed to be this difficult for him to fight. Zabuza eventually gave up with pushing his blade forward and jumped back to devise a plan.

Kakashi mirrored his movements again.

Zabuza switched positions on the lake and Kakashi mirrored his exact movements, all the way to sharing the exact same steps and lifted up their hands together to form handsigns. Zabuza stopped with getting ready to create another cloud of mist for a cover and stood still as he noticed how he continued to copy him so flawlessly. The grey skinned man thought in a slightly alarmed voice in his head, '_How can this be?_' he hesitated as he carefully studied his opponent, '_My movements... He-_'

"Can see through all of them... Right?" Kakashi interrupted his thoughts as if he knew exactly what he was thinking.

Zabuza twitched in surprise as he gazed deeply into the Sharingan, '_What is this? He's able to read my mind now? Argh! Seeing him-_'

"With that sinister look in his eye makes me sick. Was that what you were going to say next, Zabuza?" Kakashi asked him after he had perfectly spoke his enemies every thought.

The assassin gasped in alarming surprise and almost jumped.

Harry couldn't help but smirk as all of this happened, '**_You see that, Naruto? Kakashi is using his Sharingan to hypnotize Zabuza and make it appear that he is able to read his mind. He's implanting those so-called thoughts of his own and putting ideas into his head to make him believe that they are his own. He then uses those implanted ideas to his advantage and is going to force Zabuza into placing himself into a trap. This assassin is as good as dead now!_**'

'_But to be able to do that much, it must have taken him a long time, huh?_' Naruto smiled.

Harry answered him with a shrug, '_**How would I know, I don't have the Sharingan.**_'

The pressure on Zabuza's side of the fight rose up to levels beyond his comprehension. Zabuza started to sweat profusely, and his facial expression turned uglier as he grew more and more aggravated. He furrowed his hairless brow deeply and quickly put his hands together, still focusing his chakra and tried to keep a hold of himself. Zabuza tried to reassure himself that it was going to be okay, and that he would emerge the winner of this battle. He refused to let himself succumb to any form of defeat, that included verbal insults.

"Feh! You're nothing but a pale imitation, Kakashi," the Copy Ninja spoke Zabuza's every word perfectly along with him, "_I am Zabuza Momochi, the genuine article. No mere copy-cat can fool me with a few cheap tricks! You're nothing but a hack when compared to me!_"

The assassin roared in frustration and rage as he started flipping through a few handsigns that Kakashi hypnotized him into performing, "_When I'm finished with you, I'll rip out your tongue!_"

But then Zabuza froze as he saw something that only he could see, under the influence of the hypnosis. Zabuza saw a ghostly image of himself, looking straight at him with unseeing eyes. The image frightened the missing-nin as he felt himself succumb to the influence of the illusion and drop his guard for several vitally important seconds. This window of opportunity was more than enough for Kakashi as he calmly but swiftly ran through a special number of handsigns and let the tomoes of his Sharingan eye spin around until they appeared as a black ring around his pupil.

"_Water Style: Great Waterfall Jutsu!_"

The water around Kakashi gathered into a massive heap, greater than the one he made with the water dragon. It built up rapidly and then rushed at Zabuza, who was too frozen in shock to save himself from the inevitable. Massive surges of water and rose up dozens of meters high into the air as Zabuza was enveloped into a gigantic swirling current of water, thrashing him violently as if he were a hopeless piece of drift wood caught is a massive tidal wave. The bulk of the water drilled through a large chunk of trees and hollowed out a tremendous amount of earth in the process. Zabuza roared in fury as he kept spinning and swirling violently in the waters until he was thrust hard against the base of a large tree that remained surprisingly unscathed from the use of the jutsu. The trio of genin jumped back into the trees as Tazuna desperately held himself up onto the branch he grabbed earlier. Just as he was about to fall when the water came in a started to sweep him away, Naruto grabbed a strong hold of him and saved the old man from possibly getting hurt.

Eventually, the waters receded and when things were finally starting to slow down, Zabuza let out another roar as Kakashi came swooping in and had thrown four kunai that had each been lodge into each of his four limbs. None of them hit anything vital, but they did pin Zabuza tightly against the base of the tree. Kakashi was hunched coolly over top a branch hovering above the missing-nin with one more kunai in hand. Zabuza turned his head to Kakashi and grunted in pain as continued to look into his Sharingan as he looked utterly terrified.

"How...? Can you... see into the future?" he asked.

Kakashi lifted up his kunai and answered, "Yes... You are going to die..."

Before Kakashi flexed any one of his muscles to deliver the final blow, someone else already to decided to act. Two senbon needles came flying out from nowhere and drove right into Zabuza incredibly thick neck, killing him instantly. Everybody gasped as Zabuza's body fell to the ground, dead as a doornail, and looked toward the source of the attack and were met with surprise. Standing there on top of another tree branch was an odd-looking and mysterious figure. It appeared to be a foreign shinobi, whose gender was unidentifiable until the person's voice broke out and revealed to be a teenage girl.

"Your prediction came true, sir..." giggled the voice of the young woman.

She had long, black, shoulder-length hair gathered into a white bun holder tied with a green-blue (while two locks of her hair fell loose framing her face) bound with metal hair cuffs at the ends. She wore a moss green, striped turtle-neck sweater and a split skirt in matching color that reached down to her knees. On the outside of that, she wore a green-blue short kimono with white edges, and around her waist a green-brown obi, in the same fabric as her sweater, with a fringed trail. She also wore light brown platoon sandals with straps in the same colour as her kimono and nail polish on her fingernails and toenails in matching blue-green color. The most noticeable thing about her apparel was a white ANBU mask with thin, curved eye-holes and a red wavy design in place of the mouth, as well as the Kirigakure symbol on the forehead.

Kakashi jumped from his position and reappeared over Zabuza's motionless heap of a body. The others soon came walking in cautiously, all of them looking at the strange ANBU with untrusting eyes while Naruto looked up to her with wonder and curiosity in his own eyes. He soon looked back to Zabuza and the wonder disappeared and turned into a strange expression of jealousy or questioning. Back with Kakashi, he reached over and pressed his fingers against Zabuza's neck and waited. He re-positioned his fingers and checked again for a pulse but he felt nothing.

"He's dead." he concluded as he looked up to the Kiri ANBU.

The girl bowed her head to the jounin, "I thank you for your help. I have been tracking down this man for some time and now I must dispose of him. I hope that I did not deny you of the pleasure of finishing him off yourself, but I truly craved the satisfaction of putting Zabuza out of his misery..."

"It's not a problem, miss." Kakashi informed her, "That mask of yours, though, by the looks of it you must be a hunter-nin from Kirigakure no Sato, is that correct?"

The girl behind the mask giggled, "Well, aren't you the smart one!"

"A hunter... nin?" Naruto asked as he looked up in confusion.

The ANBU girl tilted her head, "It seems that you haven't heard of someone like me before, have you?"

Naruto shook his head, for he had never heard of any such ANBU division in Konoha before, so he was new to the term. Sakura scold Naruto for not knowing, to which Harry replied with a very nasty remark.

The girl in the tree calmly explained, "I am a member of an elite tracking unit from Kirigakure no Sato. We, hunter-nin, have a responsibility to hunt down and destroy the missing-nin of our village..."

Kakashi picked himself up a bit and looked upon the girl in surprise, '_Judging by her height and the sound of her voice, she must no older than Naruto or any of my other students... It's incredible that she's already a full fledged hunter-nin, given her proficiency with those needles... It still amazes me that there are still some people out there very much like this kid..._'

The wind miraculously picked up and started swirling around the girl, creating a sharp whistling noise. She suddenly started spinning rapidly until she turned into a transparent blur and reappeared across from Kakashi over Zabuza's corpse. To let the girl finish her job respectively, the jounin stood aside and walked back to his students, standing closer to Naruto. The girl hulled one of Zabuza's massive arms over her and tried lifting him up as she raised her head and faced the crowd from Konoha.

"The battle is over for now. I must dispose of the remains of this man, for there are many secrets hidden in his body. And I must not allow any of them to fall into the wrong hands... Farewell..."

The wind picked up again and that same whistling noise permitted the silence as the girl spun around with Zabuza's dead body until she vanished out of thin air. Soon, the animal life and the sounds of thriving life returned to the empty forest and clearing as the threat of Zabuza was now long gone. Kakashi sighed as the hunter-nin was gone and so was the danger that had been terrorizing him and his students throughout this whole morning. Next to him, Naruto let his head sink a little bit as he stared at the ground and couldn't get the hunter-nin off his mind and couldn't stop contemplating over this entire ordeal. Kakashi noticed this and looked to his student as he called out to him calmly.

"Sensei...? Are we really that weak?" he asked softly.

Kakashi raised his eyebrow, "Weak?"

"That hunter-nin just now." he started, "He sounded about my age, and yet he took down Zabuza without any effort at all. It took me and Sasuke all we had to take him down... Does that mean we suck or something? Are we really that pathetic?"

The boy's teacher sighed again and placed his hand down on top of his untidy blonde mop, "Oh... Well, you have my sympathy, no doubt. But none of you are in any sense weak, just outclassed this one time. It's a key fact that you'll have to get used to. It's hard to accept but I swear to you that it's the truth."

"And what's that?" he asked.

Kakashi looked down at him and told him, "That you will one day run into more shinobi out there in this world who are both younger than you, and stronger than me..."

At hearing that being said, Sasuke scowled as he was reminded of his criminal brother and even kicked the muddy earth under his feet, thinking the past teamwork that he and Naruto displayed to be pointless as their combined efforts amounted up to nothing. Kakashi sighed a third time as he closed his Sharingan eye and lowered the left half of his headband down over it.

"We haven't even completed our mission yet, team!" he said humorously, "We still have to get the bridge-builder to his bridge!"

Tazuna tilted his hat and informed the team, "Sorry to cause all this trouble for ya! To show my gratitude, I will let you guys rest at my house!"

"Alright! Let's get a move on-"

Kakashi suddenly froze in his step, his only eye opened wide as his body turned rigid and fell to the ground like a domino. Kakashi did not move as everyone soon surrounded him and started to create a panic.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked as he poked at him with his foot.

Sakura held her hands to her face and yelled, "Naruto, what did you do? Baka!"

'_**Oh, shut up!**_' growled Harry.

Naruto crouched down and started shaking Kakashi and get him to move, "Sensei? What's wrong?"

"What in the hell is wrong with him?" Tazuna asked worriedly.

The boy soon turned their sensei over with some difficulty as he was so heavy. Harry examined him himself and noticed that the jounin's eyes kept twitching and that every second or so, he would let loose a miserable moan of either pain or anguish. Kakashi was still alive but for some reason, he was in pain and couldn't move his body for the life of him.

'_**He's alive, but almost all of his chakra has been exhausted. You'll have to get him somewhere safe and soon, so he can recover!**_'

Naruto tried to grab a hold of his sensei and struggled with lifting him up off the ground. He turned to his teammates and the old man and shouted, "Help me with him!"

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><p>To Be Continued...<p>

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><p><strong>AZ44: Kick. F***ing. Ass. That was a good chapter!<strong>

**Kvsyaoran: I thought I may as well make a few changes and make a couple of alterations. I supposed it would be boring if I told the exact same fights again. So I changed them.**

**Naruto: I gotta say, I really liked it!**

**Kvsyaoran: Well, thank you, guys! You know, I really-**

**(KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK)**

**Kvsyaoran: I wonder who that could be?**

**(Opens the door and finds two teenagers with dragon heads instead of human heads)**

**Kvsyaoran: Can I help you?**

**Nefarian: Onyxia and Nefarian! You left us both out of your last fanfic, you jerk!  
><strong>

**Onyxia: What the HELL!  
><strong>

**Kvsyaoran: Oh yeah... I forgot about you guys after Azeroth44 went missing... You see, we're starting things slow before we start going into epic battle again.  
><strong>

**Onyxia: SUCK IT! (Unleashed a fireball that consumes Kvsyaoran's face, leaving him looking ticked)  
><strong>

**AZ44: (Snort) I remember why we started doing this crap in the first place...!  
><strong>

**Naruto: While we sort this out, please enjoy this new omake! Let's hit it large!**

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><p>As Team 7 made their way through the forest road to reach Tazuna's house, they stopped when Kakashi sensed a horrible presence nearby.<p>

"Stop!" he warned.

Everybody froze as Kakashi continued with, "There is a deadly creature lurking nearby, we must be cautious, everyone."

"What kind of creature is it, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Sakura.

Kakashi replied, "Too late!"

The group all huddled together in fear and squat down low to the ground.

"There it is..." he pointed as the cutest little white rabbit came hopping into the road.

Naruto looked at his sensei flatly, "You silly sod!"

Sakura outraged, "I almost peed myself, I was so scared, sensei!"

"That's the most cruel, foul, despicable creature you can ever set your eyes on!" their teacher warned them.

Sasuke scoffed arrogantly, "You think that little rabbit is frightening, wait til you see what I'm going to do to it! One rabbit stew coming right up!"

"Wait! Stay back!" Kakashi protested as Sasuke withdrew a kunai and stormed up to the creature.

When Sasuke got in just a few feet of the creature, it pounced and latched onto Sasuke's throat and gnawed at his flesh until blood spewed out everywhere, all the while, Sasuke screamed like a woman until his head fell off and his body soon after.

"JESUS CHRIST!" Harry exploded.

Kakashi shrugged, "Well, I warned him..."

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><p>Thanks for reading! If you like, please review!<p> 


	5. The Forest of Chakra

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura

'_Blah_': Naruto's Thoughts/other people's thoughts

'**_Blah_**': Harry talking to Naruto

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><p><strong>Hey guys, I just want to apologize for taking so long to post this chapter, but a few new things have been happening in my life that have been delaying me for some time.<strong>

**For starters, my original computer has... well, I want to say that it crashed, but it really didn't, since I can still fix it. It just started to freeze up every time I logged in and used the Internet. So, I got myself a new computer, a MacBook Pro (I couldn't believe it when it came in the mail) and I transferred all of my story files onto an external hard drive and stored them all into my new computer.**

**The second reason for the time since my last update, I am going to college. It's really a big change for me, and all that jazz. So I might be a little bit busy with some school work. But because the classes I took are right up my alley, you don't have to expect for my updates to take any longer than one or two weeks at a time. I'm settled in now, I'm doing great in all my classes, and now I'm back!**

**Well, anyway, without further delay, I now present this brand new chapter of one of my favorite story arcs ever presented out of my old subscription to Shonen Jump Magazine (I canceled my subscription after I discovered online manga)**

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><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto,**

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling,**

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><p>Chapter 5: The Forest of Chakra<p>

* * *

><p>It took about two hours for the genin of Team 7 to carry their unconscious sensei all the way to Tazuna's house. They had to carry their their teacher over the course of two islands and all the way through to small house located along the outer banks of the small village their client lived in. The house itself was pretty decent as far as homes along the harbor came, as it stood on top of a large dock hanging over the water, with two floors (the second one looking smaller than the first), plus they apparently produced their own energy with the help of a miniature windmill built just outside the house.<p>

The team carried the heavy body of their teacher all the way to the dock, where they had to rest for the fifteenth time, since Sakura's grip over Kakashi faltered quite frequently and because she tired quite easily. Eventually, the genin managed to get their teacher inside of their client's house, where they were greeted by a very shocked young woman, who was presumably Tazuna's daughter, mentioned on the way over. Tazuna asked her to get a futon ready for him in the lounge and she did so willingly. They soon laid Kakashi down to rest and kept a careful watch over him for the next hour or so. By the end of that hour, Kakashi began to stir and groan while his watchful students and the client sat down and leaned in to see him slowly waking up.

Kakashi groaned out loud, "Ugh... I overdid it again... didn't I?"

Naruto and the others looked over to see Kakashi looking guilty with himself as Tazuna's daughter (named Tsunami) came walking in with a tray of food and some medicine. As she placed the tray down at the right side of the bed.

"Are you going to be alright, sir?" she asked as Kakashi tried to sit up before he collapsed again.

The jounin answered curtly even while it still killed him to do so, "It'll take my body a week to recover from the strain. But in the meantime, I'll have to take it easy."

"What exactly happened to you, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Naruto.

His teacher answered him, "It's my Sharingan eye. I overused it... As some of you might have already guessed, I was not born with this eye. It was transplanted into my empty eye socket after an injury I sustained in my youth. However, because I do not have Uchiha blood flowing through my veins, this eye demands for a great deal of my chakra every time I use it. It sure is a pain, since I cannot deactivate it, so I have to keep it covered when I'm not in battle. In the occasion when I overuse it, like today, I will most likely pass out and suffer from chakra exhaustion, as I am now."

"You should stop using it if it's so dangerous, sensei! Even if it is a very useful way to take down an enemy like Zabuza" Sakura tried to reason, while Sasuke decided to mutter something nasty under his breath, "Serves you right, thief..."

Kakashi had heard that remark from Sasuke and furrowed his brow as he looked over to both Sakura and Sasuke.

"This Sharingan eye was a gift from a very good friend of mine. He wished for me to use it so that he could see the future with me."

Tazuna decided to deviate away from the discussion over doujutsu and switched to what was at hand, "Well, since you took down that big, hulking, grey guy, I doubt you'll have to fight anymore more men for a while. So you guys just rest for the time being, you deserve it!"

Sakura slumped back into her seat and relaxed while Naruto still looked worrisome.

"I can't really get that girl with the mask off my mind..." he said.

Kakashi told his curious student after teasing him briefly, "You're interested in that girl, aren't ya? She is a member of the elite tracking unit from Kirigakure. The masks they wear are worn by the hunter-nin, or ANBU in some cases. Their job is to hunt down and thoroughly dispose of the bodies of the shinobi that have betrayed or defected from their home village to become missing-nin. They have to make sure that a single trace of the lost shinobi's existence cannot be found. Because the bodies of shinobi contain many secrets from their village; they can uncover jutsu, medicine, or hidden jutsu and genetic traits that the body keeps hidden beneath the flesh."

Sakura asked, "They have to do that?"

"Yes, Sakura." he answered, "For example; If I were to die, and if an enemy managed to capture my corpse, they would remove and analyze my Sharingan. After that, they would be able to uncover all of my used jutsu and use it against the village. The hunter-nin and ANBU exist to prevent that from even happening. They must track down, dismember, and then obliterate the corpse immediately. My guess is that girl in the mask is probably doing that right now to Zabuza's remains... It's most likely her specialty."

The pinked haired girl shivered at the idea of Zabuza's body being chopped to pieces and then burned in a fire by that estranged girl.

With that said, Kakashi passed out again and started snoring rather loudly while his students sighed disapprovingly. Naruto let his mind wander and he continued to think about that girl he saw. But at the same time, he could shake off this strange feeling that something was wrong. He could figure out what it was, but it really bothered him, almost telling him that they weren't out of the woods just yet.

* * *

><p>{{<em>Sayuri's ThemeFinding Satsu by John Williams_}}

In a forest far away from Tazuna's home, the hunter-nin from earlier was securely hidden away on another island close to the bridge, in a secluded forest close by the shore. The mist was still all around them as Zabuza summoned so much of it to ensure the success of his silent killing and constant location changing. The fog was something of a problem for the girl hunter, as she would need a clear sight if she wished to do what she planned to do. She laid Zabuza's heavy and lifeless corpse on the soft and flat ground of the forest and started to prepare for the deconstruction of the body. She grabbed a pair of incredibly sharp scissors held them as steadily as she could while she talked her way through the instructions she had memorized.

"First, remove the wrappings to allow the blood to leak out..."

The girl reached for the wrappings over Zabuza's cold face, and she removed the bits of cloth covering his mouth, revealing a set of white, jagged teeth and a narrow jaw-line. But then she stopped and gasped as a hand grabbed her wrist with almost painful strength. What little color Zabuza had on his face when he was killed was instantly returned to him as his eyes opened wide and were as red as the devil.

"STOP!" he said in a choked and raspy voice, "I'll do it myself, you silly girl!"

The girl in the mask relaxed as if she knew this would happen and started putting her tools away, a cheerful tone in her voice being heard when she spoke.

"Ooh! Zombie-attack! Heh! You've come back to life already? I thought you would never wake up!"

Zabuza sat up and granted very painfully all the while, his entire body throbbing and constricting tightly with pain.

"Jeez, I told you to cast the illusion on me gently, not _butcher_ me to an inch of my life!"

The grey-skinned criminal grasped of of the needles still in his neck and pulled it out with a mighty tug, causing a burst of blood to seep from his neck and onto the ground. The girl with the mask jumped slightly at seeing her apparent master thrust the needles out of his neck so recklessly. She reached out too late as Zabuza threw thrust the needles out of his neck and threw them away as they were nothing but garbage to him.

"You should be careful, Master Zabuza..." she mentioned offhand.

The man didn't answer her and instead chose to look on as he tried to deal with his bruised ego and battered body. His temper short, he took it out on the first thing that bothered him, being the mask on his assistance's face. He suddenly hated it and growled at the teenage girl.

"Why are you still wearing that stupid mask? Take it off!"

The girl obliged obediently and removed her ANBU mask from her face and revealed a beautiful pale face with large dark-brown eyes.

"This mask has helped me through many endevors in the past, Master Zabuza. The shinobi from earlier were even tricked. They actually believed that I came from Kirigakure!"

Zabuza coughed up blood and the girl insisted, "If I hadn't intervened, you would have been killed by the man with the silver hair..."

"I could have been killed _by you_ for aiming right at my freaking neck! There are other numerous places on my body where you could have hit any other acupuncture point on my body to create the illusion of death and you had to pick the ones that could have actually killed me! Sometimes I think you almost enjoy doing it..."

The girl insisted him, "It was the only way for me to get you out of there. They had to believe you were surely dead."

Zabuza tried to pick himself up on his feet, only to fall back down on his butt and almost collapse into a heap. Every joint on his body ached as if his muscles forbade him from moving. Creating pain to make sure that he didn't dare move and let his body heal itself. Zabuza grunted again as the girl helped to move him against the base of a nearby tree.

"Not that I meant to damage your perfect body, Master Zabuza. But you won't be able to properly function for at least one week... But given your stubbornness, I'm sure you'll be up on your feet, stronger than ever in half that time."

The assassin side-glanced to his girl and soon closed his eyes, "You are so innocent... and so clever... It's a good thing that I still keep you around... Haku."

Haku giggled to herself and blushed as she took her master's words as those of genuine affection while she rubbed the back of her head.

"I'm still just a kid. What do you expect of me, sir?" she asked.

Just then, she looked up to see the environment having apparently cleared out and the color all around the forest and the ocean was fully restored. The sun broke through what few clouds there were up in the sky, bringing down a much needed warmth upon both of them. Haku gloried in the sunlight, soaked as much as she could in as she looked out toward the ocean and watched as the waves came crashing in with white capes against the rocks and sandy shores. Haku looked down to the shore briefly and noticed their boat was still attached to the small dock by a strange formation of ice that looked completely unnatural. And for some reason, it wasn't melting. Haku smiled as she looked to the sea again and gloried in the sunlight for just a few more minutes.

She then said in a soft and cheerful voice, "Such a beautiful place... The ocean... don't you agree, master?"

Haku looked to Zabuza, hoping that he would agree with him for a change, but Zabuza did not answer her as he busied himself trying to lift up his arms and barely managed to hunch his elbows on top of his knees. She turned away from her master with an anxious look on her angel-like face as her thoughts turned to the battle both of them knew that would one day come.

"The next time we must face that team... Will you promise to be careful?" she asked.

Zabuza answered his apprentice with a low and menacing voice of contempt, "Next time, I'll see right through his Sharingan and rip it out of his socket..."

* * *

><p>{{<em>Dobby's WarningGrave Danger by John Williams_}}

Without any hair or sign of his forthcoming actions, Kakashi sprang up from his sleep as if he were scared half-to-death by something in his sleep. His sudden reawakening scared Naruto into a gasp and caused Sakura to shriek very loudly. The two mischievous genin were plotting to remove his mask while he slept, as they were very curious what his face looked like underneath it. Naruto had his camera ready as Sakura reached for his face but then their teacher woke up and foiled their plan, slightly oblivious as to what they were doing.

"You freaking idiot! Why do you have to be so clumsy?" she hissed at Naruto while he justly started defending himself.

While he still stiff and sore all over, Kakashi rested his face into his palm and kept to himself while Tsunami and Tazuna came in at hearing Sakura's scream from the other room. As Kakashi heard the pitter-patter of their feet come walking in, he felt a cold chill run down his spine. It was the kind of rare feeling he got when he felt that he might have overlooked something very important while on the mission.

'_Something isn't right..._' he thought carefully, '_Could I have over looked something about that girl from Kirigakure?_'

In the mindscape, Harry looked just as confused and curious about Kakashi as his younger brother and his teammates were. He could sense that Kakashi had something on his mind and he wished to know what it was. He was about to ask Naruto to investigate, but the boy went on and beat him to the punch.

"What's the matter, sensei?" the boy asked.

Kakashi soon sighed and almost moaned as he hit himself in the head, "Oh-no..."

The others heard what he had said and looked to him for answers with worried or concerned expressions on their faces.

Sakura asked, "Is there something wrong, Kakashi-sensei...?"

"When a hunter-nin kills their target, they're supposed to destroy every trace of the body right there on the spot where they killed them. The hunter-nin we encountered did not do that. She took the body away with her." he told his small audience.

Sakura shrugged and said with her eyes closed, "So what? She probably wanted to take the body with her as a trophy for herself to bring home!" her inner-persona roared in an almost jealous voice, "**Sick, flat-chested weirdo!**"

"That may be. But if she wanted to bring a trophy home with her, it would have been more appropriate to take the head of the victim... And then there's the weapon she chose to take Zabuza down... Think about it, you guys. Why do you think she would she use acupuncture senbon needles to kill her enemy?" asked Kakashi.

The genin all wracked their brains carefully as they tried to put the pieces together. Neither Sakura nor Naruto had any clue as to what it could all lead up to, not understanding the technicality of it all. The only people that seemed to have a clue were Sasuke and Harry within Naruto's mindscape. Harry seemed to understand that something was amiss and thought for a minute that it would be incredible difficult to kill someone using only senbon and thought maybe that Zabuza managed to use a jutsu to make it seem as if he were dead, using the senbon as a good cover. He also took in the possibility that the girl from earlier is most likely working for him and had duped Kakashi and the others to save Zabuza.

Sasuke said slowly, with an expression of fixed horror, "No way..."

"I'm afraid so... Our quarrel with the Demon of the Mist is not over yet..." said Kakashi.

Tazuna suddenly asked, "What the hell are you even babbling about?"

"Zabuza is still alive." he answered in a simple but serious voice.

Naruto looked surprised, but kept his expression quite subtle, and Tsunami came in not really understanding anything that was going on. Meanwhile, Sakura and Tazuna both shared twin expressions of shocked horror at hearing this.

Naruto asked, "How can that be, sensei? Didn't you check his pulse? He was definitely dead! Dattebayo!"

"You checked his pulse didn't you? How can he possibly be alive?" Sakura asked the same question, prompting Harry to growl in annoyance.

Kakashi explained to them all, "I did check his pulse, and it definitely stopped. But it's very possible it could have been an illusion of death... Those needles the girl in the mask used are perfect tools to target the body's vital nerves and organs, they're not appropriate weapons for actual combat. They would be very ineffective in a fight, let alone an assassination unless she received the finest training. Given her trained precision, she could have easily hit one of the nerves in the neck that could have put Zabuza into a temporary state to physically simulate death."

"Huh?"

"The chances that he might be alive are significantly increased due to the fact that this mystery girl had used senbon to take down Zabuza, and then carried his body away to a secluded area. With this, it is very possible that the girl could be in league with Zabuza and might be re-animating him and tending to his wounds as we speak." Kakashi concluded.

Tazuna tried to throw away the idea that his killer was still out there by asking, "Don't you think that you're over-thinking this whole thing?"

"'Encountering suspicion, the shinobi prepares quickly. Hesitation leads to disaster.'" Kakashi quoted, "Every shinobi in our world knows this saying and takes it to heart."

Sakura asked very nervously, "By preparing quickly, what did you mean when you said that, sensei?"

The jounin sensei started chuckling in amusement and smiled at all of his students. The genin were all slightly confused by his subtle laughter and all tilted their heads in gathered confusion. Kakashi sat himself up with as much strength he had in his body.

"I can still train you guys. It's my job after all."

Naruto suddenly beamed with excitement and happiness. The idea of being trained by a teacher as cool, strong, and intelligent as Kakashi was like a dream come true. He could hardly contain his excitement as he started shivering and Harry tried his best to extinguish his internal fires somewhat. Sasuke looked amused and saw this opportunity as a good start for his advanced training if he wished to achieve his ambitions. But it was only Sakura that huffed in protest, thinking more of herself than everyone else in the group, as she hardly trained at all.

"Hold on for one second! Some last-minute training won't help us defeat Zabuza! You couldn't even defeat him with your Sharingan! We have to be more reasonable on this! What? Are you trying to get us killed with extra training, sensei? CHA!"

'**_Wait a second! Are you telling me that this _kunoichi_ is _frowning down_ upon the idea of being trained by her sensei? What an ungrateful, little...!_**'

Kakashi looked at Sakura disappointedly and told her off for her lack of action during this entire journey, hoping she would identify her own faults, "Sakura... Think carefully on who it was that saved me from Zabuza's Water Prison Jutsu. Most of you have really been improving, showing such speedy growth and development at such a young age and in such a short amount of time, it's incredible..."

He turned and faced Naruto specifically and winked at him, causing the boy to jump slightly, "Naruto. You've grown up the most!"

The boy tried to hide the sudden flush welling up in his cheeks as this would be the second time a teacher ever openly complimented him in public. The first time being when Iruka told his graduating class the abridged tale of the incident involving the Scroll of Sealing. Naruto couldn't help but smile lightly as Sasuke and Sakura looked at him as if they refused to believe that the class idiot could actually improve.

Sakura especially refused to believe it, '_Naruto? Are you kidding me? Kakashi-sensei is delusional!_'

Their teacher went on to explain that they would have a sufficient amount of time to train before Zabuza was expected to be ready and fully recovered after being forced into the death-like trance. Though Kakashi did confess that he had no idea what time exactly it would be before they would expect another attack, but he informed his students that they should take the safe precaution and be ready at a second's notice. To that, Naruto raised his head up high, still excited at the idea of training while they were still on the job with protecting Tazuna.

"So when will we start training, Kakashi-sensei? I can't wait! I bet it will be really fun!" he said enthusiastically.

But then a new, high-pitched voice called out following the sounds of the front door closing, "I bet you it won't be fun! There nothing in this world that'll ever be fun!"

Everybody turned around and saw standing there outside the door was a small boy no older than eight or seven. He had black hair like his mother, dark eyes, and pale skin, showing that he probably spent most of his time inside. He wore green overalls, a white t-shirt, and a white and blue hat that covered most of upper-half of his round and youthful face.

Naruto raised one of his eyebrows and asked, "Hello... Who are you?"

"Inari! My boy! Where have you been?" the bridge builder cried in joy and opened his arms as Inari clambered his way over and hugged his grandfather.

Tsunami hovered over and scold her son for his rash behavior, "Inari, that was very rude! These ninja have traveled very far and are here to protect your grandfather! Now you greet them properly!"

The small boy looked over to Naruto and the others, studying them observantly with those small but dark eyes of his. He remained silent and then he looked back to his mother and pointed at them all rudely, as if they were animals in the zoo.

"But those morons are going to die, mommy. Gatō and his men will come here and kill them all!"

Naruto scowled at the boy, but remained seated while the others looked at him with confusion. Inari's mother looked appalled and clearly upset as Tazuna sighed at his grandson's behavior and attitude.

"It doesn't matter if they're ninja! Gatō can hire bigger bad guys than them and he'll still turn them into shark food!"

The boy's mother huffed at him, "Inari!"

Naruto decided to step in and told the kid off in a more adult matter than was expected of him, "There is no way that some business thug like Gatō will be able to kill me or any one of us! Especially since I'm the person who will one day become the Hokage of my home village, a living symbol, a hero of the people!"

"Hero?" Inari questioned him, letting his hat fall over his eyes and his mother felt him shake before he looked up at Naruto again, "You're an idiot! There's no such thing as a hero! They don't exist! If you want to survive, then do yourself a favor and get out of this country! We don't want you here!"

With that said, Naruto scowled at Inari even more, but kept most of what he wanted to say to himself. Inari then turned his back to his family and reached to the other room where the stairs were.

"Inari, where are you going?" asked Tazuna.

The small boy turned his head enough for him to only se his grandfather as his face started to pinken, "I'm going to my room to watch the ocean. I want to be alone."

With that said, Inari slammed the door shut, stormed up the steps, and slammed his bedroom door shut after the foot stomping ceased. Naruto looked up towards the ceiling, the scowl on his face still plastered on long after Inari chose to leave after treating his guests so rudely. Inari's mother and Tazuna both apologized for his behavior and insisted that he didn't use to act like that.

Soon after, Tazuna told them where they would be staying. Kakashi was to sleep in the lounge, while Sakura would sleep in the second guest bedroom upstairs, leaving Naruto and Sasuke to share the first guest bedroom upstairs. Naruto was clearly upset that he would have to sleep in the same room as his rival, and Sasuke didn't look enthusiastic about the idea either. Sakura looked more upset than either of them, as she wished to sleep in the same room as her beloved crush. Kakashi sighed at sensing all of the tension in the room but took it with a small and a laugh right before he passed out again from exhaustion.

"I guess you kids won't be training until tomorrow then, eh?" the bridge-builder laughed.

Naruto stood up and grabbed his beaded bag resting next to his sandals by the front door. He walked up to Tsunami and asked her, "Tsunami? Where is my room again?"

"Oh... Upstairs, down the hall, second door on the right." she informed him.

The boy thanked her and left the lounge and climbed up the wooden stairs to his bedroom. If there were bunk beds up in his and Sasuke's room, he was calling dibs first. He hulled his bag up over his shoulders and patted down the hallway and found the room he was looking for, but then he stopped dead in his tracks. He heard a sound from across his door, coming from Inari's bedroom. Curious, he walked up to the door and peered through the tiny crack Inari left open when he slammed the door. Naruto peered inside and saw Inari hunched on top of his desk by the window, crying his eyes out. The younger boy sobbed in misery while he held a photograph of a handsome fisherman with tan skin and an x-shaped scar on his chin.

Inari sobbed to himself quietly as he hugged the picture close to him, "D-d-d-daddy...!"

Naruto's eyes soon turned sad as he slowly closed the door all the way to give Inari his privacy. He turned away and entered his new bedroom and found that there were no bunk-beds to claim dibs on, there were only two large futon-spreads like the one Kakashi was sleeping in downstairs. Naruto quickly settled into the one closest to the window, placing his bag next to the bed and stuffing some of his things into his futon, such as his comic books, a flashlight, some snacks for himself that Iruka had slipped into his bag without him noticing.

He was about to kick back and get settled in, until he heard Inari crying from the other side of the hall again. The boy's crying had intensified, causing Naruto to feel a tinge of pity and sympathy as he heard him mope over his presumably deceased father. To get away from Inari's crying, Naruto decided to seek refuge downstairs and wait until Kakashi would wake up.

* * *

><p>The following morning, Naruto woke up to find himself in an unfamiliar room until he remembered that he was on a mission. He looked to the window and saw that the sky outside was still a dark shade of blue, steadily growing a lighter shade every few minutes. He went back to sleep for another hour, when the powerful rays of the sun burst through the trees and clouds to wake him up. Naruto sniffed the air to wake up some more and picked up the smell of milk, eggs, and flour; the smell of breakfast. The only times he could recall ever waking up to something like that were usually back when he used to live with the Sarutobi clan, or more recently whenever he stayed at Iruka's house overnight and Iruka woke up early to cook up some breakfast for the two of them. For a second, Naruto thought he was back home in the village, until he crawled out of his sleeping bag and stood up to stretch himself out.<p>

{{_Moaning Myrtle by John Williams_}}

He froze when he heard some shuffling and turned around to see Inari, fully dressed by the door and looking through his beaded bag. He shuffled around and threw aside Naruto's red leather photo album and pulled out one of his jars of Wiggenweld potion. He swished it around in his hand, causing it to start glowing as if it were radioactive.

He asked out loud, "What's this weird green stuff? Does it talk?"

Naruto yelled with a hot temper, "HEY!" he bolt right out of bed and quickly snatched his potion out of Inari's hands and hid them back inside his bag, "Give me that!"

Inari looked pissed off, as if the jar of potion were one of his belongings and Naruto just went in and took it from him, even though it was truthfully vise-versa. But Naruto was the only person who was rightfully annoyed at the moment, as he went around and picked up all of the things Inari threw aside to dig deeper into Naruto's bag, including his weapons, extra orange and blue tracksuits, and his private photo album.

"What's your problem, weirdo?" asked Inari.

Naruto started to scold the little brat, "_My problem_? You're the one whose snooping around into other people's things! It's very rude!"

"Like I care!" he huffed back, "I think all of your stupid ninja stuff is a waste of time anyway!"

Naruto asked him, as he started dusting off his precious photo album, "What are you even doing in our room?"

"It's my house," Inari said snobbishly, "I can do as I please... Oh, and my mommy wanted me to tell you and the prince-boy over there that breakfast is ready."

With that, the younger boy left the room, leaving Naruto to pick up the rest of his scattered clothes and weapons off the floor. With the argument that broke out a few short seconds ago, Sasuke started waking up rather groggily. He was still half-asleep when he sat up from his bed and looked around with slightly droopy eyes.

"Did someone call me a prince?" he asked groggily.

Naruto threw a pillow at him and said, "Shut-up, teme!"

* * *

><p>Eventually Naruto picked up all of his belongings and messily stuffed them into his bag before getting dressed, washed, and then finally dried and ready to head down for some sustenance and training. He followed the smell of cooking eggs, toast, a hint of pancakes, and sausages an saw Kakashi was already sitting at the dinning table, with a set of crutches leaning against the edge of the table as he would need them to get around until his strength fully returned. Naruto smiled as he heard Sasuke and Sakura were taking time pampering up before they headed down for food. He sat down next to his teacher and looked around to see Tsunami cooking up a storm and Tazuna just walking in, holding with him a metal lunch pail and an orange hard hat.<p>

"Good morning, Naruto! Had a good sleep?" Kakashi welcomed warmly.

Naruto stretched one last time and said with a wide smile, "I slept like a dream!"

Tsunami suddenly dropped a plate of food down in front of Kakashi, loaded to the brim with sausages, bacon, eggs, and three slices of some of the most succulent toast Naruto had ever seen. Kakashi's only eye turned glassy as Naruto could see the part of his mask where his mouth should be started to dampen with drooling saliva.

"Just like you asked, Kakashi-san. No pancakes, no syrup, minimal grease. Just meats and eggs. Are you sure you can eat this much?" she asked.

Kakashi just nodded his head and shook his hands together in anticipation, "My goodness, this looks exquisite!"

The boy sitting next to him looked on in anticipation and so did Harry. If Kakashi was going to eat, especially this much food, he was bound to take off his mask and finally reveal what he looked like and what he had to hide underneath that mask of his. Harry was expecting to see full or fat lips, while Naruto hoped that his appearance was remotely appealing so that he wouldn't be bothered by unsightly blemishes he knew were there. Kakashi slowly reached for his mask, when out of nowhere, Sakura let out a high-pitch scream upstairs followed by Inari shouting something in victory.

"I got it! I got it! I got the bra!"

Naruto jumped and looked towards the stairs to see Inari running down with one of Sakura's pink training bras in his hands. Inari stormed right out of the house as fast as he could, while Sakura came storming down the seconds moments later with a towel wrapped around her chest and her hair soaked down to the root with some clumps of white suds still deep in her hair. Sakura did not storm out the door, as she was not properly dressed and instead chose to yell out the open front door.

"I'll hunt you down if it's the last thing I ever do! I SWEAR IT, YOU BRAT!" she roared at Inari as he stormed out to town.

Sakura let out a menacing growl as she stomped back inside and up the stairs to finish washing her soapy hair. Naruto looked appalled by what he had seen, somehow unable to produce a nosebleed as he would had expected to happen. In the mindscape, Harry observed Naruto's inability to bleed out from his nose at seeing Sakura in such a state and he smiled, clenching his fists in victory at the same time. Naruto quickly looked to Kakashi to see if he was still eating, but then he gasped at what he saw. Kakashi's plate was completely empty and clean of even the tiniest morsel of sausage and egg. In the space of only a few distracting seconds, Kakashi had finished his breakfast and clapped his hands together as he sighed in satisfaction, "Gochiso samadeshita!"

Harry let his jaw drop comically to the carpeted floor as he too couldn't believe that they missed seeing Kakashi's face for Inari's impish antics.

'_You've got to be kidding me! How did he eat that quickly?_'

'**_He's got to have some kind of vacuum cleaner for a mouth under that mask? Is that why he wears one all the time?_**'

'_I really wouldn't be surprised._'

Naruto looked up to see Tsunami looking on at Kakashi with a slight blush in her pale cheeks, prompting Kakashi to raise his eyebrow in confusion. Naruto studied her expression briefly and determined that his sensei might actually be quite handsome under the cloth mask. Though he really wished he could have seen it for himself.

Tsunami then dropped a plate down in front of him that had two pancakes stacked on top of each other. Naruto looked to the side and grabbed a tiny pitcher of syrup and a banana after he had thanked Tsunami for the meal. He sliced some bananas with a pocket kunai and then poured some syrup on top of his edible frisbees. He then grabbed a fork and Naruto started singing a subtle crimp to himself that he and Harry came up with together.

"_Eggs, milk and flour, pancake-power, Look at his milky yellow sunshine face, Flip it now, flip it good ooh, Flip it now, flip it good ooh, Some are salt, Some are sweet, Some are fruit, Some are meat, The time we used the chive, it really came alive! Edible frisbees, Springtime Tuesdays, I like to boogie...!_"

Kakashi stared at Naruto and asked after a long and awkward pause, "What the hell was that?"

"Me eating a delicious breakfast?" he looked at him with squinted eyes and answered with half a syrupy pancake stuffed in his mouth.

The jounin shook his head at how weird his student was being and struggled as he tried to stand up on his own. Thanks to the crutches Tazuna had supplied him with, Kakashi managed to get himself around and away from his student, as he found his antics were too much for him to handle at the moment. Naruto shrugged and kept humming his favor breakfast crimp while Harry used some of his musical spells to add a jazzy tune to Naruto's thoughts of irresistibly catchy crimps.

* * *

><p>{{<em>Hagrid the Professor by John Williams<em>}}

About an hour later, the team headed out of the safe house and they retreated deep into the forests closer inland. Kakashi limped his way over large roots of tall trees, leading his students into the center of a fairly large clearing large trees surrounding them in a perfect semi-circle full of rare herbs and soft grass. The trees around them seemed to grow tallest out of all of the trees in the forest, as they seemed as tall as the Hokage Mountain from where they stood. Their injured teacher stood before a particularly tall tree and turned to his kids before clearing his throat for their attention.

"The training starts now!" he said clearly, "First order of business, let's begin with a review on chakra, the shinobi's most basic source of power..."

Kakashi gestured to his one blonde student, "Naruto, would you please start us off?"

"Well..." Naruto hesitated when he didn't know where to start, as he learned how to control his chakra more through practice than through lectures, "You see... The thing about chakra is... Um... Hmm... Let's see... How does chakra work?" he asked himself.

The jounin sighed exasperatingly as he thought Naruto had no idea what chakra even was. Before his student could stop him from assuming he didn't know, Sakura went on a yelling-spree, scolding Naruto for falling asleep in class numerous times and calling him an incompetent excuse for a shinobi. Naruto pretended to listen as Sakura went on to lecturing him about how chakra worked and how it was drawn through the body, calling herself The Lovely Kunoichi Maiden.

Once the lecture was over, Naruto mentally sighed before he squinted his eyes and offered, "While that makes sense, I still don't work well with lectures. Could you give us a demonstration, then my body can do all of the learning for me?"

"Naruto is right for once, we should just learn the jutsu we need and obtain the power if we are to take those two bozos down." said Sasuke.

Kakashi stated very clearly, "No! Absolutely none of you have a firm grasp on being able to control your chakra... Depending on what jutsu you want to use, you will require different amounts of chakra. Up until this point, none of you are using your chakra effectively, you've only guessed at the proportions and hoped that the jutsu would turn out alright. If you are unable to maintain your central balance of chakra, the jutsu will most likely end up half assed, or won't work at all... Naruto, I understand you had a very similar problem in this department with the basic Bunshin no Jutsu... Correct?"

Naruto grunted and nervously rubbed the back of his head as his face flushed in embarrassment.

"So what do we do to prevent that?" he asked.

Kakashi answered firmly, "You must train to control your chakra so much until controlling it becomes second-nature. To achieve a goal that big, you must jump in and learn through hard work and experience."

All three genin gulped at their sensei's words and Sakura was the first to speak.

"W-what do we have to do?" she asked.

Kakashi chuckled lightly, throwing his students off guard again as he put his two fingers up to his face and answered simply, "You will climb a tree, without using your hands..."

"HOW DO YOU EXPECT US TO DO THAT?" the girl yelled and threw her arms in the air.

The men around her felt as if grenades went off next to their ears as all they heard nothing after Sakura's protest but a loud ringing. Harry growled at the girl, as she was really starting to piss him off with the deafening shrieks and the constant protests against the most simple and easy of shinobi tasks. How he wished he could have a body of his own again, so that he could strangle the life out of the banshee-leech that threatened his younger brother's potential love-life.

After the ringing ceased in Kakashi's ears, he closed his eyes and put his hands together as he gathered chakra into his feet, "Watch and learn, kids."

After a few short seconds of concentration, Kakashi turned toward the tallest tree in the forest and limped his way to the base. He managed to lift his foot above the ground and press it hard against the trunk of the tree. And just like magic, he suddenly started escalating up the base of the tree, walking up it as if it were the ground that he steadily walked away from. Kakashi's students watched in utter disbelief of their teacher as they continued to walk up the tree as if he were going on a morning stroll. The teacher continued on his way until he scaled over a hundred feet above the earth and stood upside down on a large branch.

Kakashi smiled down upon his students and said, "Now you got the idea? Focus your chakra into the soles of your feet and use it to connect to the tree. This is one of the many ways you can use to learn to control your chakra."

"HOLD ON A SECOND!" Sakura protested obnoxiously, causing Harry to roll his eyes, "That was a fancy trick, but how is that gonna help us defeat Zabuza!"

Naruto looked at his teammate with a slightly disheartened expression, '_I think Sakura-chan needs to watch more martial arts movies.._'

'**_Well, I think she needs to catch an amebic dysentery._**' the wizard growled to himself coldly.

"I'm getting to that, Sakura... Patience, please..." said Kakashi as he tried to shake off the urge to tell her to shut up and listen, "The goal of this exercise is to obtain a greater control over your chakra. Being able to focus a certain amount chakra to a precise point on the body is extremely difficult for even the most advanced shinobi. If you guys learn to focus and maintain chakra into the soles of the feet, the most difficult point on the body to focus it, then you'll practically be able to master any kind of jutsu out there to be learned... At least that's what the theory states, anyway..."

Sasuke adopted a subtle hungry expression as he thought of all the jutsu that he could easily master with his future Sharingan if he accomplished this feat. Naruto simply looked excited as he longed to improve his abilities as a shinobi, he also wished to outclass Sasuke starting with this training as he felt that the Uchiha had his time as the top dog. Sakura, however, seemed only mildly amused as she didn't always enjoy training and favored the advances she could make with her intelligence.

"This training is also important as a shinobi would need to use their chakra on the fly during battle. The time you need now to focus and maintain your chakra is a luxury you won't be able to have when your on the battlefield. While you're here, climbing trees and learning to focus your energy on a whim, you could save yourself and your teammates when facing against Zabuza and any other subordinates he might having hiding behind him..."

Once Kakashi was sure that they got the message, he reached into his weapons pouch and held three kunai in between his fingers.

"Well! Let's get started, shall we?" he said in an enthused voice.

He then threw those three kunai down at his students, the knifes dug into the ground at the feet of the genin, surprising them slightly with how fast he threw them.

"Practice makes perfect! Take a kunai and get started!"

Naruto took the kunai in front of him and Sakura and Sasuke followed suit with the knives place in front of them, "What are they for, sensei?" he asked.

"Use the kunai I gave each of you to mark the bark at the highest point you are able to climb. Then try to make it past that mark. Keep this up until you reach the top of the tree. If I may suggest, you should start by running at the tree from where you stand, so that your momentum can take you up as high as possible. Are you guys ready?"

Naruto gripped his kunai and proclaimed with his eyes still squinted, "You bet, Kakashi-sensei! I'll have this chakra-exercise mastered in no time at all! I won't let you down!"

Kakashi sighed, "Less talk, more action, Naruto!"

All of the genin suddenly closed their eyes and put their hands together as if in prayer. As they stood there motionless, Kakashi could see the dust picking up ever so subtly as Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura focused their energies down through their legs and into their feet. They almost hummed as if they truly were in prayer as it took so much raw concentration to force their chakra down to the location they desired. Naruto particularly had trouble as it felt like he were trying to push extra clothes into a too small of a suitcase. Once he gotten the hang of it and finally got al the clothes in the suitcase to fit, Naruto felt a little bit more sure of himself.

He thought out carefully, '_Right! I should play it safe and not overload my feet with chakra._'

'**_Good boy, Little one._**' the wizard replied as he felt Naruto let his chakra seep out of his feet. But then he sensed something was off as he felt the exact amount that was let out, '**_Umm, Naruto, hold on a second there!_**'

"Too late!" Naruto exclaimed out loud, "Ready or not, here I come!"

Naruto and the others were already running, sprinting at the bases of the trees they had chosen to climb for the remainder of their training. He pushed off the ground over and over again, trying to outrun Sasuke and Sakura both. The tree grew close very quickly and before a few seconds had passed, Naruto pressed his right foot hard against the base of his tree. He lifted his other foot but instead of running up the tree, his left foot pushed him back, gravity kicked in, and Naruto fell back to the ground, the back of his head kissing the ground with an audible thud.

"OWWW!" he screamed loudly.

The boy cupped his hands over the lump that swelled quickly upon his head as he bit down hard and tried not to cry from the intense pain that throbbed.

Kakashi sighed and said to himself, "That can sometimes happen..."

The boy rolled onto his back and looked up, even as tears and pain were blurring his already blurry vision, as he caught Sasuke climbing up the tree almost effortlessly. The Uchiha was distracted briefly as he looked down to see his rival having failed to attach to the tree and was currently writhing in pain. His old schoolboy behavior from the Academy rose up without any warning, causing him to point down at Naruto's twitching form and start laughing at him mockingly.

"Hahahaha!" he laughed as Kakashi turned to look at him disapprovingly.

Suddenly, something went wrong after the clan heir ran up about thirty feet above the ground, "WOAH!"

Sasuke's foot suddenly broke right into the bark of the tree as if it were made out of muscovite. He had focused too much of his chakra into sticking to the tree, that it backfired and broke into the base of the tree. A layer of bark got caught in the space between the sole of his left shoe and the bottom of his foot, scraping a tiny bit of his skin clean off, but the pain felt so much worse to him. As he still had his momentum fueling his raise in elevation, Sasuke was suddenly thrown backward from being stopped so suddenly and he plummeted down on the ground in a messy and painful heap, his head hitting hard against a rock lodged into the earth. Sasuke let out a terrible yell, just as intense as Naruto's, as he cupped his head with one hand and his foot with the other.

"ARGH!" he yelled as he too started writhing in pain.

Kakashi looked down upon his black-haired student and said smartly, "That can happen as well... Heh!"

"Teeheehee! This is fun!" cheered the sound of Sakura's voice.

Kakashi, Naruto, Harry, and Sasuke all looked up to see the kunoichi of the group high up in the tree she decided to climb. She was sitting on top of a large branch, a hundred feet above the ground; swinging her feet back and forth with a cute schoolgirl smile on her face, a slight blush in her cheeks, and her kunai lodged at the point where her chakra control gave out.

"Well! Looks like the only female on the group is the one with the best chakra control...!" the teacher praised.

Sasuke and Naruto could hardly believe their eyes as this was the first time Sakura had ever done anything that actually outclassed both the team's powerhouse students. Sasuke looked up at her with slight envy and tried to hide his jealousy by looking away with an audible scoff. Naruto, meanwhile, smiled up at Sakura and started cheering her on like the good and loyal teammate he was.

"Yeah! Way to go, Sakura-chan! You did a great job!" he cheered.

Although, his thought said something different entirely, '_To be honest, seeing her do this a million times better than me is starting to tick me off! Big time!_'

Harry then adopted a doe-eyes expression as he heard his younger brother utter that last sentence and statement. To hear that he disliked Sakura to some insignificant degree brought tears of joy and hope in his emerald greens eyes hidden behind thin-framed glasses, '_**At last... He's starting to learn...**_'

As Naruto tried his best not to succumb to jealous behavior, but Sakura ignored his loyal teammate's praise as she sulked at Sasuke ignoring her yet again.

'_Not fair... I wanted to impress Sasuke-kun but stupid Naruto had to be the only one... Just like always..._'

At identifying their obvious behavior, Kakashi decided to try something that could motivate Sasuke and Naruto into improving their control. He could tell from where he stood upside-down that Sasuke was applying too much chakra and needed better control, while Naruto used too little chakra and needed to get the grasp of the exercise just right. Although he knew it would probably make their rivalry all the more intense, Kakashi decided to go with it as it would help them both with motivation.

"Not only does Sakura know about chakra, she can control and maintain it too! I think someone was talking about becoming Hokage one day, right? Looks like Sakura is the one most likely to achieve that goal. And as for the great and powerful Uchiha clan, maybe they're not so great after all..."

Naruto and Sasuke both adopted twin expression of determination while Sakura looked angered and started pointing at her teacher.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI! HOW DARE YOU! SASUKE-KUN IS GOING TO HATE ME NOW!"

The boys both looked down the ground, glancing at their own reflections with the smooth surface of their individual kunai. Then Sasuke looked over at Naruto in a side-glance, and at sensing the prying eyes of his rival were set upon him, Naruto looked to him as well. Kakashi failed to recognize this familiar expression as Naruto and Sasuke did this a lot when they were occasionally competing against each other in the Academy. Only people from their class would be able to recognize this twin expression between the two of them and would then know for sure that something big had started between them.

Naruto clenched his fists as he refused to remove his eyes from Sasuke, '_There's no direction to go but up from now on! I'm going to catch up with Sasuke and then I'm going to master this exercise! Dattebayo!_'

Sasuke just stared at him as his mannerisms and facial expressions spoke his very thoughts. He raised an eyebrow at his unworthy excuse for a rival and went on to calling him a dobe as he always did, much to Naruto's chagrin as he started mouthing him off with that strange and unique dialect of his.

But hidden in the trees, the young boy Inari had followed the team into the woods and watched them up until this point. He looked at them, particularly Naruto, with those lost black eyes of his. As he watched Naruto make another attempt to run up the tree only to fall on his head again, he had seen enough as he watched him get back up and try again. He turned around and went back home as he scoffed at Team 7's efforts to become stronger.

"Idiots... They're wasting their time..."

* * *

><p>{{<em>The Rooftops of the Hanamachi by John Williams<em>}}

Zabuza and Haku took refuge across the sea, inside of the secret fortress that was owned by Gatō. They reached the mainland after they traveled through the sea for about five hours. Haku had to hull Zabuza's two hundred and fifty pound body into the small boat they used to infiltrate Tazuna's country without detection. As they crossed the sea, they were almost caught by a sea patrol unit from Kirigakure and narrowly avoided being found and hunted. If it weren't for Haku running their boat through a storm of dense fog, they would have been discovered. Haku was currently seated down beside Zabuza's massive bed and hovering over his resting form under the incredibly thick covers that kept him warm. Haku had already tended to her master's wound and just finished reapplying new bandages to his stabbed thighs. She worried over her master as she would need a special type of medicine that only she could create, with special herbs and plants only found in the dense forests of the Land of Waves.

All was quiet and peacefully content until the large double doors of Zabuza's resting room were suddenly open. Haku looked irritated as she heard the pitter-patter of tiny feet enter the room followed by the footsteps of two heavier sets of normal-sized feet. She turned her head half-way towards the door as Zabuza awoke from his slumber. There they saw their unrealistically greedy and corrupt employer standing in between two of his most trusted samurai henchmen;

A light-skinned man with blueish-white hair and black eyes with lined markings tattooed under them. He wore a dark purple hat on this head, a blue jacket with multiple pockets, and tied to his waist was a simple blue handled katana tucked into it's black scabbard. Accompanying him was a noticeably taller and burly looking man with darker skin and a more scarred up and twisted face than his shorter counterpart. His long, straw-brown hair was tied up in three different places on his head to keep it out of his face. He was shirtless so that he could show off his numerous tattoos decorated over his entire body, and only wore loose and baggy pants with a long kilt and white bandages wrapped around his waist to hide away his fun-zone. He also had a sword, only his was longer and it had a simple yellow handle design. The samurai both looked very eager as they each held their blade tightly and shook with eagerness.

The short man in the middle smiled evilly as he looked at Zabuza's helpless form from across the room. He started chuckling to himself as he adopted a sick look in his tiny eyes behind the darkness of his expensive sunglasses, "Some elite ninja you are, Zabuza... Taken down by the likes of three kids and a lazy jounin from the forest..."

Zabuza's eyes narrowed as he whispered to his servant, "How did he find out?"

"A man who rules the many seas must have his sources..." she answered after she turned her head to face her master respectively.

Gatō then started to mock his hired help as he took a step forward and thought himself a hundred times taller than he actually was, "You call yourself the Demon of the Mist?" he laughed, "It's a joke for you! If you ask me, that precious title of yours is vastly overrated... You're a hack of a shinobi!"

Haku turned her head sharply at the short man for having just said that, her once soft brown eyes turning as cold as ice. The samurai that accompanied Gatō both grasped the handles of their katana's and popped them from their scabbards as they sensed the aura of chilling hatred that radiated off of the girl with long black hair. But before they could make a single move, Gatō held his hand up and halt his thuggish subordinates.

"Hold on for a minute, gentlemen..." he said with a smile, "I wanna have some fun..."

The tiny man walked up to the bed, and stood at the foot of Zabuza's bed. Haku stared at him intently, sensing his bloodlust and noticed his left hand begin to twitch as if he were about to commit something despicable with it. The tiny businessman smirked down at the grey-skinned assassin he hired and tilted his head like a curious child.

"Well?" he asked.

But Zabuza said nothing as he refused to acknowledge this scumbag.

"You've got nothing to say in your defense?"

He finally gained control over his trembling hand and slowly reached out for Zabuza's exposed neck to strangle. But the assassin made no attempt move or even resist.

"No last words?"

Without the same heightened senses that shinobi are born with, Gatō could do nothing to defend himself for his lack of control over his actions. Haku snapped at her employer's weak arm and started crushing it in her hand with hundreds of pounds of pressure. The short man gasped in fright as the grip on his arm tightened with the strength of a mechanical vice. Her once soft, pale face instantly changed into a face contorted with rage as this arrogant businessman made an attempt to defile her master.

"Keep your filthy-rotten hands off of him, you wicked goblin..." she hissed.

Gatō let out a terrible scream of terror and pain as the girl's grip over his arm tightened until he felt the bone in his arm crack, "ARGH! MY ARM! YOU'RE BREAKING MY ARM!"

The businessman's samurai acted too late as they were not as fast as shinobi naturally were. To Haku, those two men with their toy sword moved as if they were in slow motion. Upon the moment they popped their blades out of their scabbards for the second time, Haku drew out their blades before they could even grasp them and she pressed them both against their throats as she let the frames of her black hair shadowed her sharp and icy eyes. The samurai froze in place as they felt their own swords pressed cold against their throbbing veins. They dared not to move even their eyes as they both began to sweat profusely, feeling the cold fingers of death caressing against their pulsing necks. Haku soon raised her head as her voice changed into the voice of an ice queen.

"It would be of your best interest not to make me angry..."

Haku threw the swords away at the door and in another flash, she disappeared and reappeared back at Zabuza's side. Gatō let out a howl of pain as his arms pulsed and twitched uncontrollably, when he saw what Haku had done behind him, he backed away to the door with his subordinates and cradled his fractured arm carefully. As weak and pathetic as his voice sounded, Gatō assumed his position of control.

"This is your last chance! If you fail again, I'm firing you and letting Kirigakure know that you're here!"

With that said and done, Gatō and his men retreated out of the bedroom and closed the door loudly in their wake. Haku let out a sigh of relief as Zabuza relinquished his hold of the kunai he had hidden under his thick blankets. The girl sat herself back down next to her master as he finally broke the narrow look in his eyes to look to his female servant.

He said calmly, "Haku... That was not necessary..."

"We still shouldn't kill Gatō just yet, as you were about to do." she said in a slightly cross voice, "If we are to kill him, then we should wait until the time is right. We shall first satisfy him, lure him into a false sense of security, and then we kill him. Gather whatever treasure and money he has here and then skip off to the next country with an abundant source of water... If I can make a suggestion, I say we should hide out somewhere in the Land of Rivers..."

The creases in Zabuza's mask turned upward as he clearly smiled and said, "Good girl."

"But where should we store them?" Haku smiled sweetly and blushed at her master's term of endearment, "We can't keep carrying around all of our gold to every country we go to. The treasure here in this fortress would only weigh us down. For all we know, Gatō might have already alerted Kiri of our location or he will as soon as the job he wants done is finished. If we are able to benefit from this journey, what should we do, master?"

Zabuza answered her, "I know this place up in one of the northern countries. There are underground vaults. We can keep our treasure there for safe-keeping. Then we can go to the Land of Rivers and start another operation like this."

"Hmmm..." she answered with curiosity playing at her vocal cords, "I look forward to that adventure... But until that day comes, we must practice patience and restraint."

Zabuza then turned to looked up to the slow-spinning fan at the top of the high ceiling as he sighed in defeat.

(A/N: I just want to let the readers know that out of all the relationships in the Naruto universe, Zabuza and Haku's is my top favorite. When I read Vol. 4 of the manga, I cannot suppress the tears that come to my eyes as I read the parts where Zabuza cries before he dies to avenge Haku's desecration. It's truly a beautiful story arc and one of Kishimoto's, if not, his most powerful work out of the countless story arcs he's made thus far.)

* * *

><p>Back with Team 7 and their intense training, Sakura had used up all of her day's energy after fully mastering the exercise Kakashi gave them to practice. Naruto and Sasuke however, were still at work and refused to call it a day as their female teammate already had. Naruto and Sasuke simultaneously raced up their individual trees. Naruto felt for sure that this time he would be able to maintain his control over his chakra until he felt his feet slip again. He slashed to point of the bark again, several inches short of his highest mark this time. He fell and landed rough on his back again before his head hit hard against the ground once again. Naruto yelled in frustration as Sasuke kept going up five feet higher than his original mark.<p>

They all decided to take a break for a breath of air and some rethinking; Sasuke let himself relax and clear his head clear up, Naruto took his break to caress his damaged skull, and Sakura was no longer taking a break, as she felt she had done her day's worth of work.

She looked over to her powerhouse teammates and could believe her eyes, '_I'm worn out... How can those guys keep working like that...?_' It was there that she noticed the difference between them in ability of chakra control and she smiled in satisfaction, '_Ha! Naruto hasn't made any progress at all! Knowing him, he'll give up and throw a temper tantrum! He's so predictable, it's embarrassing!_'

Naruto soon stood up and looked up at what little progress he made and he grit his teeth as he saw Sasuke's highest mark at sixty feet. While his highest mark was no more than ten feet. He grit his teeth harder as he grew frustrated that Sasuke once again outshined him. Naruto's patience grew short until he suddenly stopped as if someone were whispering in his ear and calming him down. He then turned to Sakura and walked up to her. She raised his tall brow as Naruto crouched down to her level and started whispering to her, placing his hand over his mouth so Sasuke couldn't read his lips.

"Sakura..." he beckoned softly, dropping the honorific for a change, "Please... I really need some help here..."

The girl looked surprised by his behavior but also slightly disgusted, "Ugh..."

"Look," he started as he saw the doubt in her eyes, "If you tell me the secret to getting this right, then... I'll investigate what Sasuke really thinks of you."

Sakura's jade eyes widened considerably and she asked quietly, "You will?"

"All you have to do is tell me the secret to getting this exercise right... And be nicer to me! Do we have a deal?" he asked.

She paused before she said finally with a smile, "Deal...!"

From the other side of the clearing, Kakashi had removed himself from the top of the tree and observed Naruto's actions. With his enhanced hearing, he heard every word his student uttered while Sasuke couldn't hear a single word from where he stood. Behind his mask, Kakashi smiled at Naruto proudly as he showed such improvement in his behavior from what was written down in his report from the Academy. Kakashi smiled bitter-sweet as Naruto's change in character started reminding him of someone he once knew in his childhood.

'_He's catching on and really growing up fast... From this point on, Naruto will only become stronger and stronger... After all, his latent abilities are greater than Sakura or Sasuke... In fact, perhaps even mine as well... To see him arise to that level would be a marvel and a pleasure..._'

* * *

><p>To Be Continued<p>

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><p><strong>WHOO! That took forever to finish, folks! But you know the drill; school, computers, data transfers, and all that jazz.<strong>

**Naruto: It's about time!**

**Kvsyaoran: Well, you know... What do you have to say to all this?**

**AZ44: ...**

**Kvsyaoran: Azeroth? ****(looks over to see Azeroth44 as still as a statue) Dude, what the hell is with your face? (Pokes at Azeroth44's face and is revealed to be a doppleganger created through Alchemy) THAT SON OF A BITCH! HE DITCHED US!**

**Naruto: Are you kidding me?**

**Kvsyaoran: He didn't even have the decency to leave us a note!**

**Naruto: He's pissing on us and not having the decency to call it rain!**

**Kvsyaoran: Dude, don't quote James Cameron movies right now...**

**(Suddenly, Wade Wilson comes in through the window and jumps on the couch)**

**Deadpool: Hey guys! Does that mean that I can take his place?**

**Kvsyaoran & Naruto: NOT-RIGHT-NOW!**

**Deadpool: Okki-dokki!**

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><p><strong>Lyrics used for the crimp belong to the boys of The Mighty Boosh<strong>

**Don't forget to leave behind a nice review as soon as this sentence is finished! :)**


	6. The Land Where A Hero Once Lived

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura

'_Blah_': Naruto's Thoughts/other people's thoughts

'**_Blah_**': Harry talking to Naruto

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><p><strong>Here we are again ladies and gentlemen!<strong>

**Azeroth44: I'm glad to be back, despite the fact that I am contacting via college campus... And it F***ING ROCKS!**

**Kvsyaoran: That's nice, dude. I would like to announce that I'm set to see the recent prelude/remake of John Carpenter's The Thing, one of my favorite horror/thriller movies of all time. I have a feeling, given that it's a prelude/remake, that it's going to suck ass. But that's not going to stop me from at least checking it out. If worse comes to worse, I'll just movie-hop to Contagion or something, I heard that was decent, though I was dismayed when I heard that it didn't have any zombies in it.**

**AZ44: I know! I was thinking disease + modern day = zombie apocalypse. What the HELL!**

**Kvsyaoran: Whatever, let's just hope that The Thing won't disappoint too badly. I'll walk into that theater expecting nothing and we'll see what I get in the end. On to the story!**

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><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto,**

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling,**

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><p>Chapter 6: The Land Where A Hero Once Lived<p>

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><p>The following morning, there were handfuls of workers and carpenters mucking about Tazuna's great bridge. They worked vigorously, using large cranes to lift massive columns of steel. Welding tools sparked blindingly as nails were hammered into wood, and cement plastered over the bridge to give the structure it's smooth and almost reflective grey surface. As the carpenters and few village people broke their backs and turned their arms to mush from hard labor, one kunoichi lazily sat upon a pile of stacked wooden planks and continuously dozed off. Sakura was not with her teammates and was instead assigned to watch over Tazuna with the eye of a hawk. But while she was supposed to keep her eye on Tazuna, she chose to doze off and dream about marrying Sasuke.<p>

She failed to remain attentive of her client even when he also got crushed by a fallen column of steel. Though the loud clang of metal falling upon solid concrete did wake her up just as she was about to say, 'I do'. She let out a loud yawn as Tazuna and the other carpenters glared at her for not having helped. Tazuna lifted the column onto his shoulders along with three fellow carpenters and passed by Sakura as she finished her long yawn.

"Are you really this lazy?" he asked.

Sakura growled at her client and yelled, "How dare you insult me! I am a kunoichi! And you are to treat me as such, Tazuna!"

"Pft! Yeah right! Where's the blonde pipsqueak and the brat with the attitude? At least _they_ would help and pay attention to what's happening."

The girl hissed at Tazuna for having spoken ill of her beloved crush, "Sasuke-kun is not a brat! And to answer your question, they're both training by climbing trees by using their chakra..."

"Then why aren't you with them? Shouldn't you be training? Doing something useful for a change?" he asked.

Sakura closed her eyes smugly and answered him back, "Don't need to. It turns out that I'm the best on the team and Kakashi-sensei gave me the assignment of protecting you! You can count on me!"

"A monkey could do a better job than you..." Tazuna stated, earning another nasty glare from Sakura.

Tazuna and the three men helped install the large column into a newer section of the bridge. After the welding was finished, a man about the same age as Tazuna walked up to him and expressed his desire to abandon the project. The older man argued with him, insisting the bridge's significance. Sakura paid close attention to the argument that ensued as if she were watching another of her favorite soap-oprahs. Tazuna and the other carpenter continued on with their argument for another five minutes before the younger one decided to use his ultimate trump card.

"Then consider me fired, Tazuna... I can't do this anymore."

"What? But Giichi! You of all people should understand this bridge's importance! How could you leave us now when it's nearly completed?"

The construction worker explained, "It's only a matter of time before Gatō comes 'round with his thugs and has you killed... All this hard work will all be for nothing... We should just give up and leave with our lives while we still can..." Tazuna growled at his friend in vain, "I thought I would stay on board because we're friends... But it's over now... Please... stop being such a damn stubborn fool and let it go..."

The older man argued again in a low voice, "Kaiza would not have given up..."

"And look what happened to him, Tazuna!" Giichi blurted out before he could stop himself.

Sakura looked up from her seat on the planks and watched in confusion as Tazuna remained silent and hid his eyes under his yellow hardhat. Giichi had clearly crossed a line that had been drawn as he tried to apologize, only to be told to shut up by his boss. Sakura was now more interested as Giichi tried to make amends and implore his superior to reason.

"Please..." he reached out, "Give it up... the bridge isn't worth it..."

Tazuna slowly explained, "It _is_ worth the risk... It's _our_ bridge..." he paused and then said clearly, "Our country is poor and it will remain that way until we are joined with the mainland... Gatō's hold over us will be finished and our people will know hope and courage again... You can't look at me with a straight face and tell me that an opportunity like that is not worth fighting for?"

"Our fighting will all be for nothing once Gatō has us killed..." he said back quietly.

The older carpenter looked at his friend with a disappointed look and he walked away towards the island, "It's noon... I'm ringing the bell for lunch..."

"Tazuna, please..."

The bridge builder looked back briefly and said, "Giichi... don't bother coming back to work tomorrow..."

Giichi frowned and he physically deflated as his boss and friend turned his back on him and rang the bell. He kicked his helmet away and walked back home as Sakura looked on at him with pity. But she soon shook it all off as she looked on toward the forests, all the way to an empty cliffside by the shore, thinking about her other two teammates and how things were going for them. Though, her thoughts were primarily focused on how well things were going with Naruto, living up to his promise and talking to Sasuke for her.

'_Naruto-baka better not screw me over with this one!_' she thought intently while Inner-Sakura roared out, '**CHA! If I don't get my first kiss by the end of this mission, I'm gonna pulverize you, Naruto! CHA!**'

* * *

><p>Back in the woods where Sasuke and Naruto were still training, the blonde genin let out a sneeze after a chill ran down his spine, causing him to lose his balance again. He fell down from the highest mark on his tree, trying to grab hold of the base of the bark before he inevitably slipped and fell to the ground in another messy heap. He rubbed the back of his head and sat down to rub his burning feet while he looked up at his rival, still seeing him having achieved so much more than he did. Naruto growled briefly before he soon softened his expression and tried his best to remain calm.<p>

After he thoroughly massaged his burning feet, Harry decided to put in his two cents.

'_**I must ask you, Little one... How exactly do you intend to keep your promise to Sakura if you refuse to talk to Sasuke in a civilized conversation?**_'

'_Well_..._ I'm still working on that..._'

'_**Better think of something quick, or else that pink-haired banshee will kick your arse.**_'

'_Hey! You don't hear me making fun of _your_ love-interests! Now keep it down for a bit, will ya? I'm trying to work here!_'

'_**Right,**_' he rolled his eyes, '_**m****y apologies. Please, do continue... I'm gonna love how this'll turn out.**_'

Naruto watched as his teammate soared up the base of the tree. It took the Uchiha prodigy about thirty seconds before he lost his grip over the tree and slipped. The younger genin watched in amusement as Sasuke failed yet again to fall down gracefully and crashed-landed, just as his counterpart had been doing since yesterday evening. Sasuke swore through his tightly-clenched teeth and spat out some dirt before he briefly tended to his minor bruises and bumps.

The younger boy smirked, "How's gravity treating you, teme?"

Sasuke looked up from his feet to stab a glare at his teammate and he growled back at him, "Bite me, dobe!"

"No thanks, I don't swing that way!" he said back humorously.

Harry commented sarcastically, '_**Wow****... I can just **_**feel**_** the comradeship radiating off the both of you...**_'

The blonde grunted back at his older brother in response to that.

Sasuke scoffed as he saw his teammate huff to himself as if someone were being smart with him. He thought it very odd, as Naruto did that sometimes, acting as if some invisible person were there with him, talking to him while he said nothing in return. The pride of the Uchiha finished with tending to the pain in his feet and back, before he took a minute to see how far his rival had climbed in the time since they started. He tilted his head and smiled twistedly as he only measured fifteen feet.

'S_till such a loser... Hmm... Still what's to stop you from having a little fun, Sasuke Uchiha...It's time a made things a little bit more challenging..._' he thought to himself, and crossed his arms and said pompously, "Heh! I see you're still behind me, Naruto... Just like always...!"

Naruto snapped at his teammate, looking up at his slash-markings in vain, "Get real! I'm not gonna lose to you anymore!"

"Once you start falling down from half the tree, let me know." he said back.

The blonde growled at Sasuke in frustration before he closed his eyes and forced his chakra down to his feet. Harry raised an eyebrow as he sensed Naruto was starting to improve on controlling his chakra. Probably due to the boy's determination to keep from losing, did he manage to channel out his rival and focus entirely on getting his chakra down to his feet.

"Here I go!" he yelled as Sasuke also started running up his tree.

* * *

><p>Back at the house of Tazuna, Kakashi busied himself at the house by attempting to will himself out of the effects of his chakra withdrawal. If he were back at the village, he would have been given the correct medical assistance and make a much more speedy recovery. But he had to make due with what he had here in the Land of Waves. He started off the day by stretching his limbs to their tolerance of pain, improving bit by bit as Tsunami watched from the other room, pretending to be doing something else. Kakashi occasionally looked back at Tsunami as she appeared to be busy, but he could tell from the get-go that she was checking him out. Not that he didn't mind the attention, he just didn't want to get involved with anything while he was still on the mission.<p>

Kakashi eventually took a much-needed break from his exercises and used his crutches to get to the kitchen for some water.

"Anything I can do to help around the house, Tsunami-san?" he asked.

The young woman smiled and shook her head as she laid a glass of water for the young man, "No, thank you, Kakashi. You still have to recover from your injuries."

The jounin humbly replied by parking his tooshie down and relaxed as if it were his job. But while Tsunami went on and about the kitchen, cleaning up and getting things ready to cook and serve supper in a few hours, Kakashi soon grew bored and longed to either do something productive or start a conversation.

"So what will we be expecting this evening, Tsunami?" he asked.

The woman answered, "Fish stew with a side of homemade garlic bread. It's one of Inari's favorites."

"Speaking of the little rascal, where is he now? Going to school?"

Tsunami said back, "Yes, but sometimes he likes to go the the beach and think about what he wants to do once he grows up. Ever since his father..." she stopped herself and then quickly changed the subject, "Inari should be home soon."

"How old is your son now? Six?"

The young mother laughed before she answered, "Heh! No, he'll be nine next year."

"Heh! Those kids... they sure grow up fast..." the jounin sighed.

Tsunami then asked the tired shinobi, "You have children of your own, Kakashi?"

"No." he stated as he briefly thought of his own father, "But I don't see myself having children of my own for a while, I'm not quiet ready..." but then Kakashi smiled and said, "Having students is a lot better for me with who I am now, they're like my children in a way... Takin' care of them, making sure they stay out of trouble."

The young woman replied, "They can be a handful, can't they?"

Kakashi nodded, just as the front door slammed wide open and Inari came running inside with another article of female clothing clenched in his tiny fist. Kakashi and Tsunami both turned wide-eyed as Inari bolt through the kitchen, but his collected treasure was snatched out of his hands by his enraged mother. To avoid capture and punishment, the small boy ran out of the kitchen and to his bedroom while his mother yelled for him to come back down this instant.

"I GOT ANOTHER ONE!" the boy cried.

Tsunami yelled up at the ceiling, knowing her son could hear him, "Inari! I've had it up to here!"

Once the storm had passed, Kakashi sat up in his seat, feeling slightly awkward as the young woman tried to calm herself down in front of her guest.

"So, you're son's eight? That's a crazy age!"

* * *

><p>A few hours later, a whistle sounded at the construction site and all those few remaining carpenters called it a day and started marching back home. Sakura <em>escorted<em> Tazuna to the heart of the islands, where they had to pick up a few things for dinner that night. They walked through a fairly large market district that was crowded with slackers and homeless bums, signs hanging around their necks saying they will do anything for money. Sakura remained close to her client as she was frightened and disgusted by all these people, she twitched and fidgeted every time she got too close and even yelped if someone grazed her by accident. More than once, a little girl (who called herself Ageha) begged Sakura for food. In order to get the younger girl to leave her alone, Sakura gave up all of her sweets that she had saved for herself.

She looked on around the whole village and frowned with a mixture of pity and revulsion. She suddenly jumped as a young boy bolted right by her and a store clerk ran out of his shop, yelling at the boy that had run, "THIEF!"

"Why the hell are we even here, Tazuna?" she demanded.

The old man growled at her and said, "I told you, we have to pick up groceries for dinner tonight."

"I understand that, but couldn't we go to a supermarket or another place to shop?" she complained.

Tazuna looked very insulted and said, "This is the only place we have in this country to buy food... We do not have the luxury that you take for granted at Konoha."

The pink-haired kunoichi huffed to herself as they entered a small grocery store. The floor and walls looked unclean, smeared with grime and dirt from numerous customers over the years. Sakura frowned as there were so very few fresh fruits, vegetables, or anything to choose from. Compared to the abundant source of food she was used to seeing in the shops and market places of Konoha, this place practically had nothing to offer. Tazuna and Sakura split up briefly and gathered what Tsunami required for tonight's meal. She gathered leaks, cabbage, and tomatoes (knowing they were Sasuke's favorite food) and packed them all in her bag, while Tazuna gathered what little beef and bread they had selling this week. As they walked over to the check-out counter, a skinny and balding man wearing an apron walked up behind Sakura and reached out, barely grazing her side. Sakura's eye caught sight of the man reaching out from behind her and reacted instantly, cutting him off in mid-sentence.

"Excuse me, ma'am? Do you need help with your grocer-" he started.

She reeled back and kicked the poor man right in the face, thinking he was grasping her rear, "PERVERT!"

Tazuna gasped in surprise and grumbled embarrassingly as teeth clattered to the floor and blood stained the shelves. Once the bald man had fallen to the floor unconscious, Sakura huffed in triumph while the store manager looked on in horror.

The old man grumbled, "Sakura... I think you just _assassinated_ the bag-boy..."

* * *

><p>Back in the woods, Sasuke and Naruto were still going at it with the tree-climbing exercise. They had been at each other's throats as the intensity of their race to the top of the trees increased dramatically. Naruto finally started catching up with Sasuke inch by inch. When the Uchiha reached up eighty feet, Naruto was right behind him at seventy-two feet. The younger boy stopped to catch his breath and relaxed as Sasuke slipped again, jumping from tree to tree before he eventually reached the ground and growled at his teammate's progress.<p>

'_What the hell is going on here, dammit?_' he thought worriedly, '_The dobe shouldn't be making this kind of progress in one day! He's almost caught up with me!_'

Naruto ran up the tree again and Sasuke watched in awe as the boy soared up as if he could fly and growled when the blonde pariah advanced a another foot from the mark the previously carved. The Uchiha heir's position in this race to the top was now in serious jeopardy.

Sasuke growled with a mixture of frustration and envy, '_No way... I can't let this loser beat me! Sakura must have told him some kind of trick in exchange for something she wanted... That's gotta be it!_'

The younger boy eventually fell to the ground, this time softly on his feet, before he sat himself down and lowered his head so he could channel out everything around him. He slowly stood up as he felt his chakra flow down through his legs and into his feet. He could feel it this time, that he could go up so much further than he did the last time. Naruto put his hands together as if he were in prayer and he smirked as he was certain he would be able to reach the heavens.

'_Okay..._' he said to himself, '_I think this time I'll go at least a hundred feet... And that's a good way up..._'

Harry commented quickly, '_**You're actually looking good right now! I say go for it!**_'

'_Alright!_' the boy got into position and took a deep breath before the run, he opened his eyes slowly, his sight lined directly to the tree and his thoughts were clear '_Ready... Set... G-_'

"Naruto!" boomed Sasuke's voice.

The blonde boy slipped just as he made the first running step. His face quickly hit the ground as he was completely thrown off-balance. Naruto pulled himself from the dusty ground, spitting out dirt and blood before he glared at Sasuke with a flat look on his dirtied up face mixed with running beads of sweat and pulsing temple veins.

"Sasuke," he growled angrily, "You broke my concentration! You don't see me sabotaging _you_ when _you're_ running up the tree!"

The pale-faced preteen did not attempt to make a retort like he normally would. Instead, it looked like Sasuke was visibly embarrass as a slight flush rose up in his cheeks, "Er... I'm not trying to sabotage you..."

Naruto rose one of his eyebrows at his teammate (a characteristic he picked up from Iruka) as he was perplexed by Sasuke's unusually civil behavior.

'_What is this?_' he thought with confusion, '_Do you think he actually wants to talk about something, Harry?_'

'_**Maybe you should listen to him and hear what he's got to say,**_' he suggested, '_**Talk to him for a change, if he'll allow it. It would be better if maybe you got him to stop acting like such a smart arse all the time. You could use some improvement as well, by putting aside the whole competitive race you got going on...**_'

Naruto cringed before he crossed his arms and asked his teammate, "What is it, then? You never wanted to talk to me about anything before..."

"I... Er... I wanted to ask you..." he started nervously, "What was it that Sakura told you about this exercise?"

Harry raised an eyebrow as this was a good chance for Naruto and Sasuke both to start working together. If they helped each other with mastering this exercise to the degree Kakashi wanted them to, they would stand a much better chance against Zabuza and his hunter-nin assistant when it was time to fight them again. But then Naruto started purring with delight, which threw Harry off.

"I don't think it would be fair, Sasuke." he said with a wide smile.

Sasuke frowned and asked, "What are you playing at, dobe?"

"I will tell you the trick to getting this exercise down, _if_ you stop calling me dobe." he explained.

The Uchiha scoffed and then he stated clearly, "That is never going to happen."

"And why is that?" he questioned.

Sasuke replied, "Because, that name states a very clear and true fact about the two of us, as far as differences go in strength and superiority. You are weaker than me and it will remain that way."

Harry lowered his eyes with irritation as he found the Uchiha's arrogant behavior to be repulsive. Naruto complied with an identical look on his own face.

"Then you can forget about me helping you, Sasuke-teme." he growled back at him stubbornly.

The black-haired genin scowled at his teammate subtly, "I don't need your stupid help anyway. I'm almost halfway up the tree!"

"Okay then," answered Naruto with a shrug of his shoulders, "But once I'm ahead of you, let me know when you're ready to start acting like my teammate."

* * *

><p>After another half-hour of tree-climbing, Naruto and Sasuke were forced to go back to the house as it was getting dark. Once they arrived at the house, the air was filled with the overwhelming smells of freshly boiled stew and lightly-cooked bread. Inari was busy helping his mother set the table while the others were in the sitting room, reading, drinking water, or exercising themselves out of chakra exhaustion. Tsunami placed the last of the silverware down on the table and looked to the two boys when the door closed behind them.<p>

"Good, you're back!" greeted Tsunami, "You boys go and get cleaned up, dinner will be ready soon!"

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other before they bolted up the stairs in another race to get to the bathroom. Sasuke kicked his rival in the side when they reached the top of the stairs, earning him his victory once the bathroom door was slammed shut and clicked. The blonde boy scowled angrily until his teammate was finished washing up. When he emerged from the bathroom with steam billowing out from his use of the hot water, Naruto punched him in the arm as he was sure that he used up all the hot water on purpose. Sasuke laughed very oddly as he turned the corner and marched down to dinner.

Once he was cleaned of dirt, sweat and blood, Naruto was summoned to the dinner table and treated to a wonderful meal Tsunami labored over all afternoon.

Harry looked around and observed everyone else as they arrived. Tazuna looked exhausted as he sat himself at the end of the table and he was soon followed by a very quiet Inari. The last person to arrive at the table was Sakura, who yawned as she entered the dining room as if she had woken up from a long nap. Harry scowled at her as he sensed that was the case.

"Treat yourself to as much as you like, everyone!" said Tsunami kindly, "It's been a long time since we've had a full house to feed!"

Tazuna gulped down a glass of sake and laughed in celebration, "I can't remember the last time we've had so many people at the table!"

When dinner started, Naruto and Sasuke both filled their plates and bowls with rice, stew, and garlic bread, attempting to take a greater quantity of food than the other, while also making sure they weren't hogging all the food from everyone else. The rival genin, like they were Academy students again, glared at each other and started their silent eating contest. Naruto helped himself to some of Tsunami's stew, hardly taking in any of the taste as he gulped one-fourth of it down. Sasuke took a large bite out of his bread and started scooping large spoonfuls of stew. Before long, Naruto felt the race intensify and started eating faster. Sasuke caught on and started stuffing his face, as opposed to pacing himself and actually swallowing his food.

Harry had to watch with dismay as the pace picked up and both sets of genin cheeks looked like they were blown up with air. Just as he feared their cheeks were about to explode, it finally stopped as their bowls were emptied down to the last morsel. Sasuke held out his bowl, standing up from his seat as Naruto remained seated and held out his bowl in a more calmer fashion.

"I want some more, please!" they both said in unison.

Sasuke and Naruto glared fire at each other, but then Sasuke's face turned purple as he started choking on his fill. Naruto did something similar, but he managed to swallow down his food with ease, meanwhile his counterpart bent down and spilled his food all over the floor. Naruto and Harry both started laughing as everyone else in the room was sickened and started looking away. Sakura growled at Naruto and told him to shut up and stop laughing at her man. The Uchiha glared at his rival as he slowly cleaned up his mess with a wet rag and paper towels.

"Heh!" he giggled, "C'mon, Sasuke! I know you wanna grow big and strong, but throwing up won't get you anywhere!"

"Shut up, you loser!" he snapped back at him.

The loyal fangirl at the end of the table screamed, "WHY DON'T YOU SHUT UP, NARUTO-BAKA!"

Naruto dismissed both his teammate's comments while Harry and Kakashi both crossed their arms and sighed, both of them thinking on similar grounds.

'**_She keeps on calling you that, Little one. **You know, it's not exactly a term of endearment!**_'**

The boy's sensei thought to himself, '_I honestly cannot see what Naruto sees in a girl like that..._'

* * *

><p>Halfway through the meal, Naruto twiddled him thumbs as he let half of his share of food settle in his stomach. Becoming bored quite quickly, he decided to do some investigating on their slowly recovering enemy. He knew very little about Zabuza apart from what he learned first-hand on their previous encounter. He needed to know something else apart from his nasty attitude, arrogant behavior, and incredible skills with water-related jutsu.<p>

"Say, Kakashi-sensei...?" he started.

The jounin looked to his student and raised his visible eyebrow, "Yeah?"

"Umm... I wanted to ask you; what's Zabuza's story all about? I don't think I ever read about him or heard of him before now..."

The only girl of the group decided to comment nastily, "I wouldn't be surprised, you slept through every history lesson, you freaking idiot."

"Sakura..." their teacher said lowly as he glared at her disapprovingly, "To answer your question, Naruto... You wouldn't have read about him in any history book or would be lectured about mad criminals and public slaughters..."

"Slaughter...?" he asked.

"Zabuza Momochi... the Demon of the Hidden Mist..." he started as if he were telling his children a scary story, "The village where he came from was given the nickname of the Village of the Bloody Mist... It's reasons for being called that seeding from the way their Ninja Academy was run..."

Naruto asked him, "How?"

"Back then, the graduation exam that was administered wasn't as civil as the one that we use today in Konoha... It involved students, younger than you are now, being thrown into an arena and forced to fight each other to the death... It was a barbaric ritual performed each and every year in front of hundreds of onlooking Kiri shinobi..."

Sakura was about to scream in outrage until Kakashi swiftly held up his finger and forced her to remain quiet.

"Back to Zabuza... It was said that this graduation method was permanently discontinued after a young boy, not even enrolled in the Academy, slaughtered all one hundred of the students lined up for graduation that year... The young boy was given his headband and eventually became one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist after he quickly ascended the ranks... That is Zabuza Momochi's background story, as far as it's known to those of us that have taken the time to study his dossier in the bingo book... He's made his living, thus far, by being a mercenary for hire..."

Naruto then asked him as he failed to suppress his inner-fanboy, "Whoa... kinda like Deadpool?"

"No, not like Deadpool..." sighed his teacher exasperatingly.

The boy grumbled as he went back to his meal, "Well that's no fun..."

"What a nerd..." muttered Sasuke.

* * *

><p>After dinner was finished, everyone settled down in the sitting room over a warm cup of green tea. Naruto tried his best to gulp it all down as he despised this variety of unsweetened tea. At some point, Sakura stood up after she finished her fill on tea and started poking her nose around the house. She eventually came upon a family photograph that was clearly torn apart at the upper-right hand corner, cutting off at a muscular tan arm with several scars lined around it.<p>

Sakura asked out load, "Hey... this picture is torn, is there a reason for that?"

Tazuna and the rest of his family flinched simultaneously before they went back to whatever it was they were doing, pretending that the pink-haired girl said nothing.

"Inari was starring at the thing all throughout dinner. It looks like someone's face was torn out of the picture intentionally. Is there any reason for that?"

The family flinched uncomfortably again. But this time, Inari stood up from his seat and stormed out of the sitting room in a wicked rush. Naruto looked over as he zoomed past him and saw tears leaking from Inari's suddenly bright-pink face. Harry palm-slapped himself in the face as he glared at Sakura. He wanted to escape from the mindscape and slap her in the face for having said that so insensitively.

'_**That stupid i****nsensitive clod****...**_'

Tsunami dropped the kettle and spilled the tea as her son stormed out the front door, "Inari! Wait!"

Tazuna looked on as his daughter stormed out the front door and pursued his grandson. Everybody could hear him crying outside as Tsunami tried her best to calm him down, their voices gradually fading away as Inari must have escaped his mothers grasp and went back into running away to the beach. An uncomfortable silence mute the room as Kakashi glared at Sakura for her earlier actions before he turned to Tazuna. The old man cleared his throat and put his tea aside so that he could talk.

"That man, the one who's face was cut out of the picture, was Kaiza. Tsunami's second late husband and Inari's father."

The team gathered around as Tazuna looked ready to tell them something important.

"Kaiza was not Inari's biological father, he came into our family when he was five or six. But he stilled loved him as if he were his real father. Those were the days when Inari used to laugh and smile all the time... When he was so wonderfully different..."

Tazuna trembled in his seat. His breath was cut short as a lump formed in his throat and he almost broke down crying.

"But now he's been broken... He hasn't laughed or smiled ever since they took his father away..."

Kakashi asked, "What happened?"

"What happened?" the old man asked back, "The very meaning of the word courage was robbed from him and the rest of the country the day Kaiza was taken from us, that is what happened, my friend... He was once the symbol of our small country, the hero and champion of our people. Not too different from what your village considers with the reputation of the Hokage... He came into our lives about three years ago when Inari was almost drowned to death by three local lowlife delinquents. He scared them off and saved little Inari from drowning. Shortly after the rescue, Kaiza met Tsunami and after that he was a part of our family permanently."

Naruto asked him, "Was he a shinobi?"

"No. He was just an ordinary fisherman who was traveling abroad to seek out his fortune. After he married Tsunami, he had found his fortune and Inari had found the father he never got to know... Inari loved and admired his father, whether it was when he brought home a huge hull of fish for dinner or when the town's flood gate broke and he swam through the flooded river by himself to fix it... Our people started calling him the champion and _hero_ of the Land of Waves... But then, Gatō came to town and he caught word of Kaiza's reputation. So he..."

Tazuna paused so that he could take a minute to remove his glasses and wipe the tears that were pouring down his face.

"So Gatō decided to de-moralize our community by executing Kaiza publicly..."

Everyone froze in a state of shock as they could barely hear Inari's cries all the way from the beach.

"That terrible goblin took over the town when he arrived and he terrorized our community with his thugs and samurai. But only Kaiza ever stood up to him and tried to drive him out of his home. He was eventually captured and beaten to an inch of his life. When they chopped off his arms, they tied him to a post and Gatō had his two personal samurai finish the job in front of the entire community, Tsunami, myself, and Inari included..."

The echoing cries soon died down as Tsunami probably caught up with her son and finally got him to calm down.

"Since that day, Inari has changed into the boy that you all know him as... The rest of our people, Tsunami included, have all lost hope for a better future and no longer believe in heroes or miracles. They won't stand up and fight, because they are afraid they will end up the same way as Kaiza... Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one in our entire nation that will keep fighting, no matter what the cost... In this war, I guess that I stand alone with you four... But it's still just me..."

There was another uncomfortable silence as Inari and Tsunami soon returned to the house, the young boy using his hat to cover his face as he walked upstairs to his room. Naruto looked over at Inari and furrowed his eyebrows slightly as he looked back to the torn-up picture and back at his empty cup of tea. He did feel very sorry for Inari for losing his father, but he felt that it didn't excuse him to just sit around moping all day long and insult other people that had a positive outlook on the future. He should be like his grandfather and be fighting to change things. It was at that moment did Naruto feel that this quest to become stronger was now more important than just looking better than Sasuke (though it was still on his mind). This mission's success would bring about the change Tazuna spoke frequently about. If he became stronger and worked hard to protect the bridge builder, then Inari could change again, this time for the better.

Naruto stood up from his chair, aiming towards the front door, until he slipped and fell flat on his face.

"What are you _doing_, Naruto-baka?" asked Sakura.

The boy slowly tried to pick himself up, but his body rejected his demands and he fell back down on the floor, almost loosing consciousness. Kakashi knew exactly what he intended as he was itching towards the door but then he warned him.

"It would be unwise of you to go out and keeping training, Naruto. If you deplete your chakra, the strain could kill you... Beside's the Blair Witch might get you."

Harry scowled at Kakashi's reference as the jounin and Tazuna both got out of their chairs to help get Naruto up on his feet when he collapsed again. The two gentlemen carried then carried the golden-haired boy upstairs, Tazuna doing most of the working as Kakashi's strength hadn't fully returned to him yet. Though he still hadn't enough strength in him to help get his student to bed. As they walked him up the stairs Naruto managed to get one audible sentence out.

"I'll prove it..." he said quietly.

Tazuna and Kakashi both looked to him as they dropped him onto his bed.

"Huh?"

Before he tucked himself into bed, Naruto managed to get one last sentence out to share with his older counterparts.

"You'll see... I'll prove to Inari, that there are still heroes in this world..."

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><p>Several hours later, at the stroke of midnight, Naruto slowly woke up and looked across the room to see Sasuke fast asleep in his own bed. He looked to the clock on the wall and scoffed quietly as he reached deep into his sleeping bag and found a jar of potion. He uncorked it and gulped it all down. Naruto felt his stamina become replenished and his body overflow with freshly produced chakra. It was like he had eaten two soldier pills and he felt like he could lift a truck over his head. The boy slowly crawled out of his sleeping bag and grabbed his extra pair of sandals before creeping towards the door. Just as he had made the first step, the floor squeaked and Sasuke woke up groggily from the noise.<p>

"Mmm... Wait a minute..." he said as he saw his rival was fully dressed, "Where are you go-"

Just as the Uchiha started to rub the sleep out of his eyes, Naruto snapped his fingers and muttered a special spell that caused his rival to fall back down in his bed, fast-asleep again.

Naruto crept his way downstairs and snuck past a snoring Kakashi-sensei, mentally noting how funny he looked with him sprawled all over his bed with his hair a complete mess. After he managed to sneak past him and left behind a note for his absence, he snuck out through the front door and bolted for the misty forests. He made his way through the darkness, using the moon and starlight to help light his way. But soon after, it became increasingly difficult to see the trail at his feet as the trees were spaced closer and closer the deeper he got in. Eventually, Naruto tripped over large a root and he realized he was lost in complete darkness. He scrabbled to the ground in search of a large branch and when he found one, started snapping his fingers to light it on fire and use it as a torch.

He whispered again and again, "_Incendio_!"

Naruto continued to snap his fingers over and over again until he finally got a good spark and then the end of the torch lit up with bright bluebell flames. He used his torch to guide his way through the dark woods, though it didn't help him with finding the trees he and Sasuke had been practicing on. He wandered through the trees, looking for the right clearing, until he tripped again, this time falling down a very steep hill. Naruto fell into complete darkness as his torch disappeared and presumably went out. The boy rolled and bumped into earth, wood, and large rocks until he came to a stop at the bottom of the hill. He quickly covered his mouth as his elbow hit a protruding rock, causing him to howl in pain. Once the searing pain had passed, he scrambled the ground for another stick to set fire to.

'_**Little one! Are you okay? Naruto!**_'

'_Yeah... I'm fine._'

'_**Listen up, Little one,**_' the older wizard reasoned, '**_**W****e should probably go back to the house. I know you want to become strong, but it's the middle of the night and you can't see anything out here. How about instead, we can wake up extra early tomorrow and get to the practicing trees before Uchiha does. Does that sound better than getting lost in a forest and possibly get raped or murdered or something?**_'**

'_Okay I'll go back... But there's only one problem, Harry..._'

'_**And w****hat's that?**_'

'_Where the bloody hell are we?_'

Harry looked scanned the area through Naruto's point of view and saw only darkness. Not even the trees standing only a few feet away were in the least bit visible. It was like when he first woke up in the mindscape and there existed nothing but the blackest darkness. Naruto felt slightly panicked as he started wandered around, looking for anything to see despite his slightly flawed vision.

'_**This is just fantastic...**_'

As Naruto was comforted by the sound of his companion's sarcastic voice, he ventured forth and continued searching for something he could use as another torch. Eventually, he found another stick dry enough to use as a replacement torch and could finally see the area around him. He combed the surrounding environment and found himself in the center of an unfamiliar clearing in the forest. He looked up and could just barely make out a few stars and the slight shine of the moon reflecting off the surface of the leafs at the top. When he looked back down, Naruto caught something heading his way. It was a dim orange light gradually growing brighter and brighter. It was the light of a traditional lantern and he didn't know anyone friendly who owned one of those.

'_There's someone coming!_' he said as he tried putting out his torch.

Harry instructed as soon as he picked up two dangerous chakra signatures, '_**The trees! Go!**_'

Naruto used some gathered momentum to jump from tree to tree until he hunched himself over a large branch hovering above a clearing. Naruto remained still and quiet as he saw the light he spotted glow brighter and warmer. Once the light had entered the clearing, he saw two men walking single-file. One of them was carrying a lantern and hovering over the other one who was holding a folded map. Naruto squinted his eyes and recognized them as two of the three men from Kirigakure that had succumb to his magical defenses, the ones that kept arguing amongst themselves.

'_These bozo's again? They probably work for Zabuza or Gatō._'

Harry recognized them as well and presumed they were all related seeing as they had the same sharp eyes, slicked-back spiky black hair, and smirking sets of razor-sharp teeth. As they made their way through the forest, they cast an orange light upon everything within a twenty-foot radius. The older wizard kept a careful eye on these men and helped focus magic into Naruto's ears so that they could listen in as they started entering the clearing.

"We're lost aren't we?"

"Now, hold on. We don't know that yet."

"You've been trying to figure this out for the past hour! How far are we on the map?"

"I'm figuring that out! It's really hard to read these things with you breathing down my neck like that!"

Naruto could barely see a thing with his slightly blurry vision. But then his older brother used magic to enhance his vision to zoom in on the two Kiri shinobi. He looked down carefully and saw that they each weld identical curved blades. Naruto wouldn't have looked at them twice, until he noticed that they were both dark and rusted with a sickly red rust. Harry didn't speak up as soon as he realized that it wasn't rust that was stained on the blade. It was blood that remained unwashed from the numerous kills it had made.

'**_Don't move... No matter what you do, Little one..._**'

Naruto didn't even dare to respond to him through his thoughts, as he feared those men two men would hear him thinking. He remained as still as the trees around him while the Kiri shinobi continued to argue amongst themselves.

"Listen here! We should just make our way to the coast, head in one direction until we find a town or the bridge. Whichever one comes first then we can make our way back to Gatō and tell him what we found out about the environment."

"-No. We don't have to do that. I know where we are."

"If you knew where we are, we wouldn't be lost!"

"-We're not lost! We just don't know where we are!"

"That's what being lost means, stupid!"

"-Just give me a chance to get us out of this mess!"

"Fine. You got five minutes."

The shinobi holding the lantern looked around the clearing and started sniffing the air as if it were some kind of an animal. He held up his orange lantern high above his head as his sharp eyes started looking up, itching closer and closer to Naruto's location. He held the mighty torch high above his head bringing Naruto into the light. The boy shut his eyes tight when he expected the worst to come. But just before the foreign man's eyes happened upon Naruto, the man with the map made a complaint.

"Hey! Give me some light over here, I can't read this thing!"

The man with the lantern rolled his eyes as he turned around and the darkness settled upon Naruto once again. The boy opened his eyes in surprise as he felt the slight heat of the light leave him and blanket him in the wonderful darkness. He still made sure he did not sigh in relief as they were still down there, discussing their next actions.

"We could make this job so much easier if we just off the old man while he's asleep."

Naruto perked his ears at this and listened in carefully.

"Don't even think about it," the lantern man said, "Let's just stick to our little plan and keep playing along with Gatō's operation here. If we off the old man, that Gatō might not even pay us. Or worse, we could get killed by Kakashi Hatake. I heard he was the jounin from Konoha who was protecting the old man. The one who took down the Demon Brothers."

"That's the same guy that was the ANBU captain, right?" the map man asked, "The one that was involved with the uprising in the Land of Snow?"

"The very same one. That guy is on a whole other level than us."

"Okay... Ruling out the whole 'we'll kill the old man ourselves' plan, what are we going to do to make ourselves rich?"

"We'll do what we have been doing. We're gonna steal from his vault at the fortress, pocketfuls at a time."

"Great plan and all... But by the time we're millionaires, we'll both be ninety-years old."

"Patience is a virtue, brother. Didn't mother ever teach you that?"

"No."

The preteen hiding in the trees continued to remain as quiet as possible, hoping these men would just go away so he could scratch the itch on his nose that had been bothering him for the past five minutes. He tried wiggling his nose, hoping it would suffice, but no matter how many silly faces he made, his itch did not go away and neither did those two Kiri shinobi. After the uncial fives minutes that were mentioned were up, the leader of the pack looked to his supposed sibling with the lantern held high above his head.

"So, how are you coming along on that map?"

"Still working on it."

"My navigational skills are second to none. Let me take a gander."

"No. I got it."

"Give me the map, dammit. Give it here!"

The boy hanging up in the branches looked down carefully as they two men started fighting one another like back at the mainland for the map. They struggled for a few long couple of seconds until the man with the lantern dropped the source of light and started examining the map carefully. The man who was holding the lantern slowly looked to his partner after he had examined the map thoroughly to determine where they were. Naruto didn't know what happened when the man dropped the map down next to the unused lantern and drew out a kunai to throw at his partner. The two men started fighting each other crazily, cursing their mouths off like pirates as they engaged themselves into intense combat. The boy up in the trees still kept quiet and still as he watched them start chasing each other, leaving their navigational supplies behind. Naruto raised his eyebrow once Harry told him that the coast was clear and started to slowly slide down the base of the tree. He scooped up the map and the lantern before he finally let out an audible breath.

'_Is every person from Kirigakure a complete psychotic?_'

'**_I have no idea... But those two were a right pair of nutters. Attacking each other like that. They're like wild animals._**'

The boy pocketed the map briefly snapped his fingers at the lantern and cried quietly even while he could no longer hear the sounds of clanging metal weapons, "_Wingardium Leviosa!_"

The lantern rose up above the ground, floating gently by Naruto's head as he pulled the stolen map out of his pocket and tried smoothing it out as soon as he had finished unfolding it.

'_At least we got ourselves a map._'

The older wizard looked at the paper and soon turned flat-faced as he recognized the geography, examined the compass at the corner, and read the legend next to the compass.

'**_Of the wrong continental region written in a language neither of us understand._**'

Naruto read the map as well and saw it as a geographical readout of the Land of Steel and surrounding regions. Those two idiots from earlier were reading from the wrong map, it was no wonder they were lost. Naruto crumbled the map and snapped his fingers to light it on fire, as it served him no purpose whatsoever.

'_Aren't we lucky..._'

'**_I guess it's no wonder the one holding the lantern got so pissed._**'

With that useless map crumbled and burnt to a crisp, Naruto grabbed the lantern, held it high above his head, and wandered into the lost woods in search for either the house or the practice trees. Whichever one came first.

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><p>To Be Continued<p>

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><p><strong>What a twist! Naruto is lost in the woods! Embarrassing for a shinobi! And everyone thinks he's at the practice field training! What will happen to our favorite blood preteen? Will he be able to get out alive <strong>

**Naruto: Will you stop imitating the narrator from the old Pokemon TV show?**

**Kvsyaoran: By the way, who the hell is that narrator supposed to be? Who is he voiced by?**

**Naruto: Kyle Herbert?**

**AZ44: Maybe it was the voice of CTHULHU!**

**Naruto: Yeah, that makes sense.**

**Kvsyaoran: To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised.**

**AZ44: C'mon! Respect to Cthulhu!**

**Kvsyaoran: (Throws bag of chips at Azeroth44) Respect these!**

**Naruto: You failed to mention this, but Azeroth44 just open his mouth like Venom and ate the bag.**

**Kvsyaoran: Speaking of Marvel villains, DID ANYONE CHECK OUT THE NEW AVENGERS TRAILER? HOLY SCHNIEKIES! AND IT COMES OUT ON MY BIRTHDAY!**

**AZ44: I miss being the crazy one around here.**

**Until the next update, folks!**

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><p><strong>Deadpool belongs to Marvel<strong>

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><p><strong>Don't forget to leave behind a nice review!<strong>


	7. Meeting in the Forest

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura

'_Blah_': Naruto's Thoughts/other people's thoughts

'**_Blah_**': Harry talking to Naruto

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><p><strong>I would like to announce that I have decided to re-write the ending scene in the previous chapter.<strong>

**I now feel that when I made the homage to The Mighty Boosh last time, the joke was taken a little bit too far and I never considered the fact that not everyone in the world has seen the show. When I think back to it, the joke is much better suited for an omake than an actual chapter. ****Azeroth44 wanted me to stick to the silly ending and cut to when Haku and Naruto meet up in the forest, but after some careful evaluation, I thought the idea sucked and decided to change it. **

**AZ44: Yeah, he wanted me to poke my head in here to bare guilt.**

**Kvsyaoran: That's right, you convincing idiot :)**

**By the time you are reading this introduction, the previous chapter's ending will have been changed to develop into this new chapter. In the new version, (everything is pretty much the exact same) the Kirigakure shinobi are still humorous with how they argue with each other while lost, it's just that their argumentative humor is toned down to a much more reasonable degree, where it's not too silly and not too serious. Also, the names of the Kirigakure Triplets**** were dropped as they were too western/Boosh for the Naruto-Universe.**

**AZ44: Put it back in, dammit! I loved the way it was before!**

**For those of you that still want to view the Toni and Saboo dialogue scene, I will gladly re-post it in the form of an omake at the end of Chapter 6: The Land Where A Hero Once Lived. If not, please enjoy what I replaced it with :) **

**Well, without any further interruptions, I give you the new chapter of the AotM!**

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><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto,**

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling,**

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><p>Chapter 7: Meeting in the Forest<p>

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><p>Back in the village of Konohagakure, Iruka Umino was lost in the mist of the early morning field inside Training Ground Three. There were no traps set, no stray kunai to step on and accidentally stab your foot, as this place served more as a memorial site, rather than a place to train and improve your skills. Hardly anybody came down here.<p>

Iruka could not see any further than a few feet around him, as there was a heavy rain storm the previous night, and when it rained in the summer in Konoha a thick morning mist was to be expected. The chunin slowly made his way through the endless clouds of fog until he saw the the three training posts come into view. Once he was there, he turned to the Memorial Stone where the names of his parents were engraved. It had been a long time since he had been here, so he thought it would be nice if he paid them a visit.

But then he was surprised when he saw a short figure standing before the memorial, presumably a child no older than Naruto. As he approached the memorial, the figure made no attempt to move or acknowledge him as he stood before the obsidian face of the names of people that had willing sacrificed all of their existence for the sake of those still alive in the village. Iruka wished not to disturb the child from his silent prayers, so he kept quiet and looked upon the names of his parents.

After he concluded his prayers to them, he spoke up to the young boy.

"Don't mind me asking, but who are you here to see? You lost someone precious?"

The boy did not move or flinch before he pointed to a single name that was apparently one of the more recent names engraved into the stone. It meant that someone had died in the line of duty the previous the week. Iruka looked on to the most recently engraved name, and he froze as he felt his insides become cold like he swallowed ice.

**うずまきナルト**

Iruka's mouth opened in horror as words failed him. The boy who was looking at the name turned and revealed his face to the chunin; it was Naruto.

The boy had a kunai protruding into his forehead, cracking the metal of his headband while shuriken were lodged into his arms, legs, and torso. He looked up to his older counterpart with crimson leaking out from every pore in his boy, coating him in a layer of oozing blood that made the older man's nose cringe at the terrible smell of rotting iron. The boy had tears rolling down his face endlessly, clearing the path of blood on his cheeks as he spoke out in a voice coming from the dead.

"Why couldn't you stop me from leaving, aniki?"

The tan-skinned teacher let out a yell and he woke up with sweat beading down his face. Iruka panted as if he had run a marathon before he sat up in his bed and let his head fall into his hands. When he had calmed down, he looked to the empty space where he once had once placed Naruto's miniature bed and sighed. It had only been only one week since Team 7 departed from their mission, but Iruka was still pretty nervous and worried about how the mission was going. He tried shaking off his worries, knowing that Kakashi would keep the students safe.

Iruka wiped the sweat from his forehead and reassured himself, "Relax... He'll be fine... Hatake-senpai will protect him... he'll be okay..."

The chunin looked to his desk in the corner and stood up as he was a little too sweaty to go back to bed. He sat down at his desk and looked at the picture he had of him and Naruto when they were making silly faces and were dressed as funky Inuits. Iruka smiled and almost laughed as he remembered that early summer day before he put the picture back down on his desk and looked out his window and to the milky-white full moon. As he stared up at the midnight sky, thinking back to the last thing Naruto had told him before his departure.

'_What was that thing Naruto wanted to tell me?_' he asked himself before he slowly rocked himself to sleep in his chair.

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><p>{{<em>Meeting AragogThe Spiders Attack/Fleeing The Spiders by John Williams_}}

At that very second, the blonde-haired shinobi sneezed and almost dropped the lantern. His situation wasn't getting any better as he searched through the endless forests for the way out, even with his abundant source of light at his disposal. Naruto really began to get worried that he might run into those two men from earlier. They may not have seemed like much of a threat from what he gathered about them so far. But he had a chilling feeling that it was only because they were unaware of his presence during both of their close encounters. He still had no idea what they were capable of or how dangerous they really were. The only thing he and Harry knew about them was that they were short-tempered and easily provoked with how they started fighting each other.

He looked up and switched the lantern in his hands so that he could use a spell to see how high up the trees were.

Naruto clicked his fingers and cried, "_Periculum!_"

He watched as a bright jet of red light shot into the sky, growing fainter and fainter the higher it went. But at the peak of it's travel, the spell released one last burst of energy, that resembled an Independence Day firework. The light it gave off reflected off of the surfaces of the leafs and trees, giving him an idea how far in the woods he was. Naruto squint his eyes and groaned once he realized he must have been at the center of the island's forest, as these trees were the highest he had ever seen in these woods. He shook his head and closed his eyes as he tried to pick up the sounds of the coastline, _hoping_ that he wasn't too far away from any end of the island. If he could hear the sounds of crashing waves, he would follow them until he found the bridge and then get back to the house to destroy his note before anyone could read it. To his disappointment, he could hear nothing but the sounds of chirping insects and he sighed.

Then something strange happened, the forest suddenly became quiet. The sounds of the insects chirping were silenced as if someone had pushed the mute button on a remote control. It was an unnatural silence. Naruto opened his eyes at the same time Harry focused the feeling of having his shoulder shaken and spoke to him with an urgent, almost frightened-sounding voice.

'**_Naruto. They've found us._**'

'_WHAT?_'

The blonde's vision cleared up and he was horrifically surprised to see the two men he thought he had avoided standing right in front of him. They were waiting for him. One of them had his arms crossed and a sickening smirk on his pointed face. The other one was fiddling around with his removed cloth mask as he stared at the boy holding their lantern with a look on his face reminiscent to childhood curiosity. That look was disturbingly mixed with an expression Naruto had never seen on a man's face before. He didn't now what it was, but he didn't like it. It was as if these men had more sinister intentions as their fingers itched at their weapons.

"Look at what we've got here, brother... Hot little dish, isn't he?"

"I was wondering who took off with our lantern when we came back."

"I take it that you also burned our valuable map as well?"

Naruto thought offhandedly, '_Not much of a loss when you think about it..._'

The nervous genin shook off his thought and looked in between the two men, trying to pick up the strange difference that developed between them since their last encounter. They seemed to have forgotten their earlier conflict and were now working together as partners to gang up on Naruto.

"Listen," he tried reasoning, "how about I give you back the lantern and we can walk away from this and never speak of it again?"

The one on the right looked to his partner and said, "You know that's not a bad idea. What if he can outrun us and gets Hatake involved?"

"You are a knob," the other shinobi insulted, "He's trying to trick us."

As they started arguing with each other upon bringing up his teacher's possible involvement, Naruto took the opportunity to start itching away from them. But then he stopped when they noticed what he was trying to make a break for it and one of the siblings threw a kunai that landed an inch away from his big toe. The boy made no attempt to move as the two shinobi caught up with him and re-entered the circle of light radiating from the lantern.

"You're not going anywhere, little boy."

The shinobi on the left asked in an antagonistic tone, "Besides... who does he have to run away to? He doesn't even know where his house is, does he...?"

"What are we gonna do with him?"

"For having stolen our only means of getting out of this maze... I say we gut this kid alive... just like a piggy at the slaughter house!"

The one who wasn't wearing his mask withdrew the curved carving knife strapped to his back and started swishing at the air for practice. Naruto gulped and the blood drained from his face at the sight of that unwashed sword. The man who started to advance on Naruto licked the blood-stained blade as if it were his favorite treat while his sibling moved around the young boy with an identical blade.

The genin began to sweat and was unable to breath as it felt like he was trapped within a small room that gradually began to get smaller. These men that once almost made him laugh were about to slaughter him like a farm animal. He took one unconscious step backward and gasped when he felt something drop out of his sleeve. He looked down for a split second to see a dark-purple ball plummet towards the ground before a cover of extremely dense smoke exploded beneath them all. Naruto didn't wait another second and ran, accidentally shoving the other two men aside in the process. As he escaped from the smoke cover, he could hear the sounds of those two missing-nin running after him, their feet stomping into the earth like a herd of rhino.

Naruto tried losing them by making sharp turns around trees, hoping that they would end up colliding with each other. But that tactic worked against him as they almost grabbed him by the back of his shirt. One of them got very lucky and managed to grasped the back of Naruto's infamous orange jacket, and tugged hard enough to break the zipper clean off. With his jacket now flowing behind him loosely, Naruto abandoned the idea of turning around trees and started gathering up as much speed as he could muster.

He jumped and even screamed when he heard the sounds of whistling weapons coming from behind him, followed by the sound of metal throwing stars thudding into the trees he zoomed by. Naruto looked down and realized stupidly that he still had the lantern in his hands. He quickly threw it away underneath a fallen tree and all the forest was dark and dense once again. The loss of light provided him with a cover as he started running uphill. But the sounds of those two men were still thundering behind him, sounding exactly like horse hooves.

"HA! WE CAN STILL SEE YOU, BOY!"

Naruto swore out loud before he clicked his fingers three times, throwing his arm back with each snap as he used whatever spells he could think of that might slow them down, "_Fodio! Protego! Stupefy!_"

A flash of white light zoomed right through the darkness and hit a tree, while a plasma shield was easily penetrated, and a small jet of red light narrowly missed the left ear of one of those two ninja. None of his spells had worked accurately nor effectively. Naruto cursed to himself as he wished those men would go back to arguing amongst themselves like they were back at the old campsite.

He then got a very clever idea as he put his hands together and cried out his signature jutsu, "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_"

Naruto created fifteen shadow clones and had them all split up into different directions.

"Dammit! Shadow clones!"

As the enemy shinobi were busy dealing with the clones, the real Naruto hid behind a tree and stopped to catch his breath.

'**_Good job, Naruto!_**'

'_Thanks! But now isn't the time for congratulations!_'

The boy frowned because he could see his shadow clones clearly in the darkness, due to their flamboyant colors. If he could see his shadow clones from this distance, then that meant that those two men could see him as well. He got another idea and immediately removed his jacket and tossed it. He would have loved to get rid of his orange pants, but he didn't have the free spirit to go parading through a forest in his underwear. With at least half of his person hidden along with the dark of night, Naruto set off in the direction he originally intended and ran away as far as he could. He made sure to keep an eye on the siblings through the shadow clones, but the connection was soon destroyed along with the remaining shadow clones and he picked up the pace.

"You're not getting away from us, kid!" he could hear faintly.

The other shinobi yelled with a more audible voice, "We're gonna cut you up into little pieces!"

Naruto continued to run as the land finally evened out. He looked back for a split second before he realized that he could see those men clearly as if it were day, which meant he was getting out of the forest. He looked ahead and noticed the trees were spaced further apart and he almost smiled with relief. Just as he was able to see the stars and moon again, he picked up a strange scent in the air, something he took in when he first set foot in that motor boat on the way over to this country. It was the smell of the ocean and it was growing stronger with each and every passing second. Harry stretched out his senses and instructed Naruto carefully as he got further out of the woods.

'**_Full steam ahead! Are you ready for this?_**'

'_Yes, Nii-san!_'

A few short minutes later, those two missing-nin pursuing the blonde child started laughing as they saw Naruto having stopped at the edge of the forest, hunched over his leg and out of breath. The terrifying duo sprint at the child and tackled him down, ready to start ripping him apart, limb by limb. The boy yelled out in terror as he and the others started falling. But then something eye-popping happened as Naruto exploded into white smoke and the criminal siblings looked through the smoke and realized that they had jumped off a cliff three-hundred and seventy feet above the ocean with jagged rocks waiting to impale them both at the bottom. The men both roared out in terror as they fell to the ocean failing their arms and legs all the way down, as if it would soften their fall.

The real Naruto Uzumaki was hiding underneath a bush growing beside a tree that overlooked the whole scene. He rose out of his hiding place and carefully walked over to the edge of the cliff, checking behind him in case someone was going to push him down there too. When he looked down the cliff, he could not see any bodies or any trace that the two shinobi he had been running from were even down there to begin with. Harry couldn't sense anything but he could see the dull shine of one of their swords wedged in-between two sharp rocks.

The preteen looked down and said with a shrug, "I guess that's what you get from not bringing the right map..."

Naruto turned his back to the scene and started to head back to the forest, leaving a trail behind from him to follow back out to the coast by slashing every tree he walked by with the kunai he brought with him. He had to relocate his thrown away jacket and hopefully find the lantern he had to toss. Thankfully, those two presumably dead missing-nin left behind a trail of their own with the number of kunai and shuriken lodged into the trees he started slashing. Naruto simply followed the trail of thrown away metal and his spirits were lifted when he stumbled upon his jacket. He quickly picked it up and put it back on so he could keep warm and started searching under every fallen-over tree he came upon in search for that lantern.

'**_If you don't find it, just forget about it and make a torch, Little one. We have to get out of here._**'

The boy nodded his head as he looked under two more trees. When he reached the fourth tree since that last communication, he spotted a faint glow emanating from under a branch that appeared to be smoking. Naruto quickly dove down under it and found the lantern and it was on fire. Naruto was quick with putting it out and saw that a good deal of it had been burned. He used a few simple spells in an attempt to repair it. Once he finished, Naruto relit the tiny candle on the inside and searched for the trail of kunai he had followed to this part of the woods. He looked for the trail but soon realized that he was lost yet again. The boy kicked a nearby tree in frustration, wishing he had stayed in bed as his sensei wanted him to. He would have loved to swear his head off for being so foolish, but he was too tired to be angry and start running his mouth off.

With no direction to guide him out of the lost woods, Naruto decided to just start wandering around the forest aimlessly, unable to locate the coast even with his older brother's outstretched senses. He walked through the woods for a solid hour before he collapsed into a soft bed of grass and fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

><p>{{<em>Sayuri's Theme by John Williams<em>}}

Early the next morning, at Gatō's headquarters at the mainland, a young girl emerged from her chambers and entered the bedroom of her resting grey-skinned master. She crept towards him slowly, having removed her shoes so she wouldn't disturb his slumber, and started flexing her fingers in preparation. When she came to his side, she couldn't help but giggle softly as her master was snoring very audibly. She pulled back the heavy sheets and examined his shirtless chest. She then softly pinched at the muscles in his arms, upper-chest area and even inspected the joints in his legs. She could feel the incredible tension as they were almost as hard as bone. The girl frowned as this was a clear indication that her master was experiencing a tremendous amount of physical pain and stiffness. He probably couldn't even move in this state.

As soon as she was finished with checking him over, Haku softly stroked Zabuza's hair before she left him to rest peacefully. She then walked to the large set of windows in the room just as the sun was beginning to rise. She stared out into the pinewood forests as she slowly removed the bun on the back of her head and let her long black hair flow down to her waist. Haku closed her eyes and shook her head, letting her hair be free and loose before she opened her eyes and adopted a subtle fire in them. If she wanted her master to be relieved of the pain in his body, then she would have to venture deep into enemy territory for the correct herbs and plants she would need to brew the medicine.

She swiftly left her master to sleep and returned to her own chambers, where she started changing into her civilian set of clothes. She dressed herself in a pink sleeveless, low-cut kimono, with pale red edges and decorated with small plum-colored swirls, that went down to her ankles. Around her waist, she strapped on a simple white obi tied in a bow, and wore a pair of light brown sandals with dark straps and a dark choker around her neck.

Before she reached for her picnic basket with her senbon inside of it, she heard the sounds of a person having entered her room without permission. It was the younger of Gatō's personal samurai, the one with the ridiculous purple hat. Haku hated him and how he had been eyeing at her these past few days. He came walking in with a skimpy red dress in his hands and a perverted smile on his tattooed face. Haku glared at him coldly as she could read his intentions before he had even divulged them to her.

"Hey there, pretty little lady... What do you say, since we're letting you stay here and all, that you provide us gentlemen with some... appropriate compensation? Catching my drift?"

Haku remained cool and collective as she picked up her basket and made her way to leave. But then the samurai slammed his free hand against the frame of the door to prevent her from leaving. He looked at her with a twisted smile and the icy kunoichi cringed internally at the sight of his crooked and discolored teeth.

He asked as if he were playing a game, "Where do you think you're going, little lady?"

The pale-skinned hunter became infuriated by his inappropriate and borderline pedophiliac behavior and poorly resisted the urge to teach him a lesson. She tried to keep herself calm and gave him one more chance to let her go before he would regret it.

"Let me through." she ordered calmly.

"Ho-ho! You're not leaving until you give me a little dance, my tight little pussy-"

That last detail set the young girl right off the bat, as she grit her teeth and growled at him before she disappeared briefly and drove her powerful knee directly into his groin. The samurai's eyes almost bugled out of his skull before he let out an agonizing moan and fell to the ground, writhing in pain. Haku then kicked him out of the way of the door as harshly as she could and made her way to leave.

As she quietly walked through the corridors of the fortress, hiding in the shadows from various other thugs hired by that horrid goblin. Haku quietly crept towards the first exit she could find but was almost caught when she turned the corner and spotted Gatō talking with one of those three shinobi triplets from Kirigakure no Sato. The young girl noticed the short man in the business suit now had a cast wrapped around his arm from the incident a few days ago. She looked at him calculatingly as he looked just as furious as ever while the much taller man appeared to be reasoning with him over something. Haku barely paid attention as she searched for a way around them to sneak out for her medicine.

"Where are those idiot brothers of yours?" he outraged, "They should have returned here last night after they finished their reconnaissance of Tazuna's hometown! Don't you dare tell me that they got lost or some other crazy bullshit!"

The eldest sibling tried again, "Sir-"

"If none of you start pulling your heads out of your asses, I'm docking all of your pay!" he interrupted angrily.

The older of the triplets yelled back, "We're working on it!"

With such luck on her side, the other of the two samurai had just gotten back from the closest town carrying a large crate filled with liquor and tobacco. She took her opportunity and disappeared without a trace, reappearing outside the door just before it slammed shut and the angry yells of Gatō and the older samurai ensued along with the third shinobi triplet. Haku blew a few whisks of her black hair out of her face before she carried her picnic basket with a swing and started walking towards the direction of the Land of Waves, acting as if she were on an early Sunday morning stroll.

* * *

><p>At Tazuna's house, Sasuke slowly woke up when his mental alarm clock went off. He groggily got up and out of bed and looked to the only mirror in the room so he could smooth his hair. He looked over to Naruto and was surprised to see his bed was empty. He failed to recall the events from last night as he marched to the bathroom to wash up.<p>

After he was freshened up for the day, he went downstairs to see his sensei and Tazuna's family already up. He looked around and his rival was nowhere to be found.

Kakashi was sitting in the corner of the dining room and was nervously picking at the metal plates in his gloves as he stared blankly into space with a yellow note crumbled in his other hand. The Uchiha heir sat down at the end of the table and nodded his head to Tsunami when she dropped a plate of breakfast for him. Inari was currently swirling the milk in his cereal bowl when he looked up and also noticed that Naruto wasn't around. He remained quiet and to himself while he tilted his hat down over his face.

Just as Sasuke had finished up his morning meal, Sakura made her graceful entrance by walking in and yawning quiet loudly.

"Good morning, everybody..." she mumbled as she sat down.

Tsunami placed a plate down for Sakura as well before going back to the kitchen to get a plate ready for Naruto, thinking he was taking his time to get ready.

"Thank you!" she said as she looked around and noticed something off about this picture, "Where's the baka?"

Kakashi explained, "Naruto decided to sneak out and go back to training last night. He left us this note so we wouldn't worry and wonder where he was."

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me..." she started as she rolled her eyes.

Tazuna looked up from his meal as the rest of his family looked up from what they were doing out of either curiosity or concern, "He went out? But I thought he was beat from yesterday's training. You tucked him in yourself, didn't you? He should still be out cold in the state he was in last night."

"Heh! Naruto is very special kid," the teacher said confidently, "He has the best stamina and healing abilities out of everyone else on the team or anyone in his graduating class."

Sakura rolled her again as she said critically, "He's completely crazy. Climbing up trees in the dark with eyesight as bad as his. He could be lying out there dead by now for using too much of his chakra."

Tsunami looked concerned as she put the boy's food away for him to eat when he got back.

"I hope he's alright," she said supportively, "It's not good for a child to spend the night in the woods alone..."

Kakashi eye-smiled to Tsunami, reassuring the others as well as himself, "There's no need to worry too much. Naruto is a goofy kid, but he's also a fully-fledged shinobi. I'm sure that he's more than qualified to handle himself out there."

"Sakura's right," said the brooding Uchiha, "Naruto is such a loser. He could be out there lying dead somewhere."

Tazuna and Tsunami looked to each other with eyes of concern while Kakashi looked at the black-haired boy with a flat and disapproving look on his masked face before he said sarcastically, "That's a very nice thing for you to say, Sasuke."

The black-haired boy didn't seem to care as he stood up from his seat and headed towards the front door. Sakura raised her eyebrows at her crush and almost stood up herself.

"Where are you going, Sasuke-kun?" she asked.

The Uchiha did not even have the courtesy to turn around when he answered her, "I'm going for a walk. I'll be back eventually."

"But we just started eating!" she insisted.

Sasuke then answered her, "_You_ just started eating, not me."

Before she could finish her excuse for him to stay, the black-haired boy closed the door behind him and walked off to wherever his heart told him to go. The pink-haired kunoichi looked down at Sasuke's empty plate from breakfast and one of her eyebrows twitched in surprise and irritation as she was unable to have enough time to talk to him, "That was fast..."

(A/N: I just love how in this original scene, Sakura just goes ahead and flat-out tells the civilians in the room the secrets of shinobi training methods from her village, just so she can belittle Naruto. I'm not sure if telling people outside your village hidden secrets is considered treason, but I think a move that stupid is well-deserving of a karmic hit to the head.)

* * *

><p>{{<em>Love Death Birth by Carter Burwell<em>}}

(A/N: It's a very pleasing theme by itself, I felt that it would be more deserving for someone like Haku instead of the chick from the Twilight movies)

Haku eventually reached the Land of Waves within the passing hour and made her way to the deepest and most dense regions of the forests on the largest island she happened upon. She found exactly what she was looking for when she stumbled upon a vast collection of the special herbs and plants that she needed to concoct her medicine with. She calmly picked herb after the next as the sunlight came bursting through the trees and bathed her and the surrounding areas with a warm blanket of light. As Haku peacefully plucked a few more plants and flowers, several neighboring sparrows came flying in and perched on her shoulders, completely unafraid of her presence.

She smiled sweetly as one of the birds looked at her with a curious tilted head. Haku enjoyed the peaceful company as she checked her bag and gave the birds a handful of seeds to feed them with. With the birds busy feasting on Haku's generous offering, she looked over to see how many other herbs she could greedily gather when she stumbled upon an alarming sight that caused both her and the birds resting on her shoulders to jump.

It was a boy with golden hair, resting peacefully in a bed of grass with a kunai held loosely in his right hand and a burnt out lantern in the other. At first, she though he was dead but then he stirred and tilted his head towards her direction. Upon fully seeing his face and the symbol on his headband, Haku almost gasped as she recognized him as the curious boy she encountered after she ended the fight between Zabuza and the man with the silver hair. She raised her eyebrows warily and she stood up to leave her feathered friends in peace with their meal. She slowly approached the slumbering boy, watching his chest raise and fall and saw one of the veins on his neck pulse with life once she got close enough. Her expression softened bit by bit as she got closer to him. There were more sparrows here in the clearing the boy had slept in, pecking at his cheeks and clothes curiously. Haku kneeled down to his level and fought to resist the thought of finishing him off when she had the perfect opportunity. She slowly stretched her pale hand out, almost making it look like she was reaching for his exposed neck.

Naruto was completely oblivious to Haku's actions until he felt a subtle pain shoot across his forehead and woke him up at the same time Harry unexpectedly yelled in his ear in warning.

'**_Little one! WAKE UP!_**'

The boy opened his cerulean-blue eyes but remained planted on the ground as a dark figure hovered over him. Haku froze for a few seconds before she started shaking his shoulders gently to get him to fully wake up. She had paused as she was captivated by the sight of Naruto's incredible sapphire eyes, unable to believe that they were his natural color. But she quickly snapped out of it and she spoke to him with a soft and gentle voice.

"You'll catch a cold if you sleep out here."

He sat up-right as his vision cleared and then Naruto froze when he was captivated by her pale skin and long black hair. The unmasked hunter-nin was very beautiful, making it very hard to believe that she was the about the same age as the young blonde boy staring at her. Naruto immediately blushed when she smiled back at him kindly and tilted her head in an irresistibly cute fashion. He started rubbing his nose as he feared he might have some dirt on his face from sleeping in the woods.

While Naruto tried to figure out what to say to her, Harry immediately recognized the color of the girl's hair and distinct voice.

"Hi, uh..." he greeted nervously, "How's it going? W-who are you?"

'**_What are you an idiot?_**'

'_Huh?_'

'**_Can't you recognize her voice?_**'

Haku smiled at Naruto again and giggled before she answered him, "My name is not really important. I'm just your average everyday civilian... Heh!"

The boy froze for a split second as he recognized her distinct giggle. He tried imagining seeing a red and white porcelain mask placed over her face, wearing a different set of clothes, and a few senbon needles in between her fingers. Naruto did his best to hide what he knew using the principles of Occlumency once he put the pieces together.

'_She... she's the hunter-nin that _killed_ Zabuza...!_'

'**_You better be careful with this one... Be ready to attack her at any second._**'

'_No..._' the boy answered as he quickly calmed down, '_I don't think she's going to hurt me._'

'**_Are you high?_**'

'_Hear me out, will you!_'

'**_What makes you think she won't attack you?_**'

'_You really don't see it in her eyes? And you're supposed to be a master of Occlumency._'

'**_What do you mean?_**'

'_She had the opportunity to kill me when I was asleep. She saw my face that day at the lake. She knows who I am and yet she didn't kill me when she had the perfect opportunity. Why wouldn't she have killed me? If you ask me, I don't think she even wants to fight me... Give me a chance and let's see where this goes..._'

'**_I get what you're saying... But_** **_I'll still be ready to help fuel you magic..._**'

'_Do what you have to then, Nii-san..._'

As the two kids started talking to each other, Harry slowly let himself calm down as he carefully studied the girl through her actions and mannerisms, determining that maybe his younger brother was correct. She made no nervous movements and didn't showed any indication that she meant any ill-intentions. But still, the older wizard did not let his guard down and was ready to help give his younger brother all the power he would need to use fully-powered spells.

Naruto let the girl help him up on his feet and followed her back to her picnic basket full of ingredients and belongings. When they sat down close by the basket, Naruto decided to start things off.

"Um... Don't mind me asking, but what are you doing out here all by yourself? These woods can be extremely dangerous if you're not well-prepared."

"I was gathering special herbs." she answered back.

Naruto plucked out one of the plants beneath his fingers, "Herbs? You mean these things here?"

"That's right," she smiled, "they're for treating illnesses and healing wounds. My father needs them to heal up from his injuries. He got into a spot of trouble with another dangerous man last week and needs a special medicine to heal up."

"Your father?" the raised his eyebrows as he put more pieces together, "Does he live back in town?"

The girl smiled at him, "No. He's sick in bed at the mainland. He won't be able to heal in time if I don't get the right ingredients that are only found on this island. I had to stowaway on a passing ship just to get over here."

"Whoa... That's an interesting story." he said as he could tell she lied about the stowaway.

Haku smiled again, "Well, I love my father. So I'm willing to risk getting chucked out of a ship if it will help him recover."

Naruto offered his assistance to the girl, knowing full-well that she was going to use the medicine she was planing on making to accelerate Zabuza's recovery. But it didn't matter if he helped pick a few plants, Zabuza was going to make a speedy recovery inevitably. So all he could do was help her and hopefully uncover any information he could obtain about his future opponent to give him an edge and most likely give the information to his teacher if he was able to get away and find the house. But in the meantime, he would have to be patient and careful.

"You sure do like to work early, don't you?" he asked.

The girl with black hair answered, "I like getting up early in the morning. But I can honestly say that I didn't expect to see a boy my age sleeping in the woods." Haku looked to the boy after they had gathered enough herbs to last a week, "So why were you out here sleeping in the forest?"

"I was training!" he said back enthusiastically.

She asked him curiously, "With that kind of an answer and that headband you're wearing, that means your a shinobi, correct?"

"That's right!" he answered as he started readjusting his headband, "I'm training so I can develop my skills and become stronger. But I still have a very long way to go."

"You already seem so strong now..." she blushed lightly, "Shouldn't that be enough for you, then?"

Naruto shook his head and said, "No way! I have to keep building my strength until I am stronger than anyone else in my home village. It's because I want to become a Kage, who is deemed the strongest and most powerful shinobi in all the land." he clenched his fist with excitement and continued, "Once I claim that title, everybody back in my home village that treated me like dirt will have to look up and acknowledge me as the number one shinobi in the village! The looks on their faces on that day, I can't wait to see them!"

Haku looked at Naruto with a calculating expression, she wanted to know something about this boy before they would go any further.

"Can I ask you a question?" she started.

The blonde smiled, "You already did, but I'll let you ask another one."

"Heh!" she giggled again, "Okay... You're a shinobi, right?"

He smiled again, "Now it's gonna be three questions!"

She started laughing and the barrier between enemies seemed to crumble before both of them.

"Cut it out, you goofball! What I really wanted to ask you... was why you are working so hard to become strong? Is it because you're doing it for someone you care about, or is it for your own self-gratification?"

Naruto tilted his head in slight confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Well..." she hesitated, "What I mean is... do have someone who is precious to you?"

The boy raised his eyebrow and was wondering why his future enemy would ask for such a thing from him. Haku hesitated as she took a minute to reflect upon her past, seeing herself as a recently thrown-out slave-girl sitting outside the trash cans of a local whore house. She could remember that one day when everything changed for her and she saw a man standing across from her; casting a tall dark monstrous shadow but had the same eyes as she did.

She looked back up at her new friend and said with a slightly serious voice, "When people are protecting something or someone that is truly precious to them, it is only then do they become genuinely strong..."

Naruto raised both of his eyebrows before his face softened and his memories came rushing back to him. He could remember a giant shuriken, a warm figure protecting him at the cost of his body, his current sensei looking back at him with that signature eye-smile in the mist, and a vision of Kaiza's picture restored in the photograph hanging up in Tazuna's living room.

"Yeah... I know exactly what you mean..." he said quietly.

Haku asked him, "You do?"

"Absolutely... For starters..." he said calmly, "I would have to say... my big brother... he's always been fair and kind to me... Always watching my back and keeping me out of trouble..."

Haku smiled warmly, despite her icy complexion, "Anyone else?"

"I would have to say my grandpa... my teacher Kaka-sensei, he's always been so nice to me... my female teammate Sakura-chan..."

Haku cringed when she thought of the pink-haired girl and how much she had failed to contribute in the fight that happened a few days ago. It really made her wonder why that girl was even on the team and could only hope that the boy in front of her wouldn't end up with her in the end.

"Anybody else?"

"There's one other person..." he said hesitantly, Naruto seemed almost embarrassed to admit this last part, "My other teammate... All I can really say is that, because we're both orphans... I care about him... a lot... But don't you dare tell him that, or he'll push me away even more!"

The black-haired girl giggled again as she lied, "Heh! I don't even know what he looks like!"

The two of them talked for another few minutes, exchanging jokes and even talking about similar hobbies and tastes. Together they burned through numerous topics ranging from favorite ramen flavors to comic books. Naruto almost had to slap himself in the face to make sure that this girl was real. He studied her carefully as they were talking, determining that she was being genuinely honest when they were talking about their hobbies. It was like this girl was perfect in every way a nerd could dream of. It was almost hard for Naruto to keep going with the plan on uncovering information about her and Zabuza that could give him an advantage in the future. He tried for several minutes, asking her how she would combat with superheroes or villains (Naruto choosing whichever the one he related to the most in comparison to his true abilities) to which she would answer with only the obvious choice. Haku never made her own real decision, so as not to give anything away to her new friend if he managed to make the connection to the hunter-nin with her.

After about thirty minutes, Haku started packing away her things into her basket and dusted off her clothes.

"I'd hate to keep you from your training, but I'd better get going..." she said as she bowed her head.

Naruto sat up straighter, "You're leaving?"

"I'm sorry, but my father really needs me to get back home. You know how it is with people who are precious to you, right?" she said as she reached for her basket.

Before she had a chance to stand, Naruto decided to fully break the barrier and asked her quietly,"So... is Zabuza Momochi your precious person?"

The slightly older girl froze like a statue when she heard that sentence uttered and she slowly looked at the boy who was the very first person to ever deduce her identity. She then lowered a suspicious eyebrow when said boy looked back at her with unusually calm and collecting eyes. Something in those wondrous sapphires came out and told her that there was nothing to be feel alarmed or threatened of. For reasons she felt were best left unexplained, she could feel like this boy was not going to attempt to do anything any other shinobi in his place would attempt to do.

"My name is Naruto. Can you please tell me _your_ name?" he asked.

The girl slowly sat back down but she continued studying her soon-to-be enemy but then her face softened when she gazed into his eyes again.

"Haku."

"Don't worry," he said to reassure her, "I don't really have any intention of attacking you or anything, so long as you promise not to attack or kill me."

Haku then asked him, "Well... Why?"

"Because... I think we could settle things when we are forced to clash one another... on the battlefield... whatever you like to call it... We're not with our respected masters now, so we have no reason to feel pressured or obligated to attack each other... at least not yet."

"What do you want from me?" she asked calmly.

Naruto answered her, "I just wanna know something... I want to know why you work for someone like Zabuza... Why is he so precious to you?"

"People have their reasons for caring for the people they care about... All I can say is that he saved me..." she hesitated and then finally answered.

The boy across from her looked into her eyes and could tell just by looking at them that she didn't want to tell him about too much of her past, "You don't want to talk about it then...?"

"Not really..." she said sadly, "My mind is more set on getting back to him and giving him his medicine... He's in a lot of pain right now and it's worrying me... If someone you cared about was in the state he's in now, you would want to get through anything to bring them back to health... Wouldn't you?"

Naruto took in what she said and slowly stood up, pocketing his kunai into his right-thigh holster. Haku looked up at him with a soft look of surprise and made no attempt to reach for the weapons she knew she had hiding in her basket.

"Then I won't keep you..." he said as he thought back to his sensei, "I should probably get back to my own team anyway..."

Just as Naruto was about to turn his back to Haku, she raised her eyebrows and held out her hand to beckon for him, "Wait..."

The boy turned around again to face her and she looked at him with honest eyes.

"You helped me gathering herbs for Zabuza... I should return the favor to you..."

"Are you serious?" he asked.

Haku smiled up at him before she stood up and left her basket behind, "It would not be a fair fight when we must clash again. So I feel that you should know a good trick with mastering the tree climbing exercise."

"How did you know that I-?"

She answered him as she pointed to her left, "When I was walking through to get here, I saw the slash marks you and your friends made on the trees. It's the basic tree-climbing exercise. I practiced that just before I started working with senbon needles and secret jutsu techniques Master Zabuza helped me create."

"Oh..." he hesitated as Harry started writing what she said down and patted the boy on the shoulder.

Haku looked to Naruto and actually started blushing when she offered, "Would you like my help...? Or not?"

"Sure." he said enthusiastically.

Haku's mouth opened slightly before she smiled lightly and the two of them headed towards the nearest trees where they could practice together. At seeing this happening, Harry started to shake his head in denial as he could not believe that his younger brother had magically turned a dangerous enemy into a brand new friend.

'**_How he was able to do that is truly beyond me..._**'

* * *

><p>For about one hour, Haku went out of her way and actually started tutoring Naruto on how to properly execute the tree-climbing exercise. She helped her new friend learn to conquer gravity and start soaring up towards the sky, using similar teaching techniques that Zabuza used to help her learn. Throughout their time together, Haku was actually having genuine fun with another human being for the first time in years. She couldn't remember experiencing this much enjoyment with another person her age since the days she lived on a farm with her original parents. She could just barely remember the sounds of her own laughter and another boy's when she used to run through the snowy fields of the village valley.<p>

Naruto himself was having a great time improving on his exercises with this girl. In the time since she offered her help, he actually forgot that this girl was a hunter-nin set upon possibly destroying him in the not-too-distant future. All of those negative emotions and resentful feelings seemed to vanish when Haku and Naruto stared at each other once they fell back down to the earth together. They looked to each other and decided to have a race, to see which one of them would make it to the top first. As they zoomed towards the sky, Haku told Naruto that he could use his chakra to give himself a boost of power and speed if he focused it properly. Harry made sure to write all of this down and commit it to heart, while Haku demonstrated this ability flawlessly when she started jumping from tree to tree, going up higher and higher as she began beating the blonde wizard.

Naruto tried giving it a shot, but he messed it up on the first try. He focused too much chakra that caused the bark beneath his feet to crumble beneath him and he started falling to the ground at a hundred and fifty feet. Naruto almost yelled as he plummeted toward the ground, Haku vanished from the upper branches and reappeared upside-down in a branch right below him. Before he slipped from under her, she caught him by the wrist and saved him from hitting the ground and prevented serious injury.

Haku swung the boy back and forth and threw him against the tree. Naruto wrapped his arms and legs around the tree and slid down with ease, thanking his new friend for the help. That almost-accident signaled the end of their playtime as Haku grew even more nervous about her master. But before she had to take off, she gave her friend an important reminder about the exercise that could help him.

"Just remember... If you want to climb up a tree, you must climb at it without any fear of falling down. You must be headstrong and treat whatever surface you must attach your feet to without really thinking that your scaling anything."

He smiled at her and said, "I think I got it down. Thank you."

"You must not fear falling from the base of the tree. It should be the other way around." she added as she walked over to her basket.

The boy looked to her as he wrapped his jacket around his waist, "Before you go, which direction are the trees where my teammates were practicing on? I'm gonna be honest, I got lost last night and I have no idea where they are anymore."

"It's approximately... two kilometers due east from here."

"Right!" smiled the young wizard before he stopped and hesitated embarrassingly, "Which direction is east?"

Haku smiled humorously as she pointed him in the right direction.

"Oh." he smiled, "Thanks."

An awkward silence permeated in the morning air as these two children looked to each other. A very slight breeze managed to penetrate through the forest to their location. The slight wind that brushed against their faces carried a silent realization that the next time these two would every meet again would be when they're holding weapons against each others throats. Haku and Naruto were both reluctant to go back to their respective allies, fearing that their newly blossomed friendship would not be able to thrive and expand any further than it did this one memorable morning. They both kicked their feet at the ground lightly and accepted the inevitable silently with twin sighs.

Before he could turn to leave, Haku spoke up to him and asked one last question.

"Naruto-kun..." she started slowly, "You understood what I said about true strength, correct?"

"Yes." he answered.

Haku sighed and then gave the boy a slightly serious look as her grip over her basket tightened, "Then I know that you will one day become very strong."

After one more moment of silence, they were both ready to part ways on equal grounds.

"So long, Haku-chan." he said softly as he turned around and walked east.

Haku turned toward the west and looked ahead of herself sadly as she whispered, "Farewell, Naruto-kun."

* * *

><p>It didn't take Naruto that long to find the clearing he had been searching for all of last night. He sighed in relief when he found the familiar matted grass and the rocks that he and Sasuke hit their heads upon after their first several attempts to tree-climbing (the blood stained on them was proof of that alone). He looked up at the tree he had been practicing on and sighed before he turned toward the direction of his client's home, eager to get out of these woods before something else found him. He just wanted to curl up on his futon and take a nap before he would train for even one more minute.<p>

But before he could take his first step out of those woods, he was surprised when he was encountered by his black-haired rival. There Sasuke stood with his hands tucked away in his pockets and his head held up high. He approached Naruto with a bothersome smirk on his pale face which made both Naruto and his invisible companion cringe in disgust.

"What happened to you, dobe?" he asked, commenting on his teammate's dirt-smeared face, "Did you fall down and land on your face or were you just born that way?"

Naruto was not in the mood to be insulted or belittled by his teammate at the moment. He would have thrown back a hot retort, but instead chose to scowl at him angrily and felt like punching the ever-loving crap out of him. Once he was older and knew more about girls, he would understand where these feelings were coming from and learn to keep them in check. Naruto furrowed his eyebrows at Sasuke deeply before he let out a subtle growl in his throat and he frowned.

"I don't want to deal with you right now, teme. I'm going to bed." he said bitterly.

The younger genin gave his teammate a patented shoulder-bump as he made his way back to the house. Sasuke widened his eyes and raised his eyebrows at his rival when he walked back to the house, words failing him at witnessing his unprecedented behavior. It wasn't until after he had vanished, did the Uchiha finally find his voice.

"I was just... messing around..." he said when he was alone.

Sasuke kicked the dirt beneath him lightly before he turned to the trees and examined the marks on them both.

* * *

><p>Early the next morning, Naruto snuck out of bed like he did the previous night and tip-toed his way downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast. He was up before Kakashi or any of Tazuna's family, so he would have to make breakfast for himself. He collected two onigiri in a napkin and carefully made his way around a slumbering Kakashi Hatake. He just barely managed to make his way out of the kitchen without making so much as a plank of wood creak beneath his feet and made it out the door, closing it behind him quietly.<p>

Naruto looked up to the skies, to take some time in appreciating the magnificent golden colors of the breaking dawn. When he had seen enough, Naruto made sure he did not trail away from the small forest road leading to the practicing trees. Once he got there, he traveled west, to the location of the herbal bed where he and the hunter-nin met formally. When he got there, he sat down in the middle of the clearing and waited, hoping Haku would return and the two of them could spend more time together. Admittedly, he didn't really want their previous encounter to be the last one before they had to fight each other. But no matter how long he stayed there for, she never showed up.

While he waited, he took a single sample of one of the herbs that Haku had been plucking the previous day and looked down at the plant, studying it. He smelled it for a few seconds before he sighed and unconsciously tucked it into one of his pockets. As the sun slowly began to rise above the great ocean horizon and the skies turned lighter and more blue, he gave up as he was certain that she wouldn't come back. He stood up and looked out to the west for one more moment before he turned and walked back to the practice clearing.

If Naruto had only waited a few more short minutes, he would have seen an optimistic black-haired girl emerge out from nowhere and arrive with a picnic basket full of lunch instead of weapons and medicinal herbs.

* * *

><p>The boy planted himself at the center of the practice clearing and helped himself to the first of his two onigiri. Sure he was being greedy with packing two for himself, but he wasn't sure if the second would serve him as his lunch or not. Naruto sat there on the grass and dirt, munching down on his breakfast when he was met with curious sight. It was Sasuke again and he had just arrived from the house to get started on his training for the day. The Uchiha heir approached his teammate, standing directly in front of him with his hands firmly at his sides. Naruto continued to chew on his rice and seaweed as he looked up at Sasuke with bored eyes.<p>

The black-haired genin looked down at his rival and greeted, "Dobe."

"Sasuke." the blonde boy greeted back.

Without any hair or sign of his actions, the older genin took his left hand and hit Naruto on the head with the same amount of force as the aggressive shoulder bump from the day before. Thankfully, the black-haired student waited until after his teammate had swallowed his bite of breakfast, so that he wouldn't choke or gag on his rice.

"OW!" he outraged, "What was that for?"

The Uchiha merely grunted as Naruto dropped his food and started rubbing the top of his head as he felt a slight bump begin to swell on his scalp. He soon snapped his head up at Sasuke, expecting an explanation for his actions but then he stopped. The older genin had a very different expression on his face, the likes of which our blonde-haired champion had never seen on his face before. He appeared to have a softer look on his face as his face slowly developed a pink tint in his upper-cheeks.

He then asked hesitantly, "Do you... umm... do you want to... race to the top, Naruto?"

"Eh?" the younger genin was confused by this gesture and tilted his head before he thought to what Haku helped him realize about he cared about.

"Umm..." the boy shrugged, "Sure!"

Sasuke grunted again as he tried to suck the flush out of his face as he partner stood up.

Naruto took a quick stretch and looked up at his untouched tree and then compared it to the Uchiha's. He was astounded when he realized that there were no new slash-marks made in the amount of time Sasuke had to advance, like he never even bothered with continuing to ascend up his tree until his rival came back. The Uchiha tried to hide his face from view once he realized he had been found out and the blonde shinobi smiled ever-so slightly, feeling his resentment towards Sasuke slide for the time being.

* * *

><p>To Be Continued<p>

* * *

><p><strong>That was some piece of work I got done here, if I may say so myself!<strong>

**Naruto: Pretty good!**

**Kvsyaoran: Thanks! Took a while, but I think I got it down just right with you meeting Haku and everything!**

**AZ44: I still think you shouldn't have changed the scene last chapter, I liked it when those Kiri shinobi were Toni and Saboo.**

**Kvsyaoran: I told you. It's more appropriate for an omake. Not an actual scene.**

**AZ44: But they were silly!**

**Kvsyaoran: You're silly!**

**AZ44: That's why I loved them!**

**Kvsyaoran: I've already explained everything in the introduction, I don't need to debate this with you again! **

**AZ44: I DEMAND FOR ANOTHER DEBATE!**

**Naruto: (Finds a frying pan and hits Azeroth44 on the head with it) Frying pans! Who knew, right?**

**Kvsyaoran: And without further delay, it's omake time!**

**AZ44: (GASP!) **

**Kvsyaoran: Toni and Saboo are not in it!**

**AZ44: Aww...**

* * *

><p>Naruto climbed into bed a little bit early that night. He dug through his beaded bag and found a few comic books to read when he felt something poking at his bottom. He dug into his back pockets and found something folded in one of them. He pulled it out and then remembered that he had taken one of the herbs that Haku had been plucking up for medicine yesterday. Naruto suddenly felt a swoop of excitement as he gathered the herb and got out of bed to talk to Kakashi. He heard Sakura in her room sleeping and he knew that Sasuke was in the bathroom brushing his teeth. He made his way downstairs and saw his sensei in his bed, flak jacket hanging on the chair with his backpack. The teacher was reading from his little orange book when he looked up at Naruto and stashed it away under his pillow.<p>

"Sorry to disturb you, Kakashi-sensei. I just wanted to ask you something." he started.

His teacher shrugged and invited him into the living room, "Anything."

Naruto sat down on a footrest and pulled the medicinal herb out of his jacket pocket and handed it to his sensei.

"Could you help me identify this plant?"

Kakashi took the plant and examined it for several long moments. It wasn't until he started smelling it did he manage to identify it.

"This is a sample of ashwagandha."

The boy raised one of his eyebrows, "Is that bad?"

"This is a very rare herb used for medical purposes." his teacher answered impressively.

"For healing wounds?" he asked, "Maybe we can use it to help you heal up?"

Kakashi adopted a wary look in his lone eye and held his hand up in protest, "I... don't want to use this, Naruto."

"Why?" he asked curiously, "Wouldn't this stuff heal your wounds and bring you back to health?"

The jounin sighed and then informed his student, "Naruto, this is a key ingredient for anabolic steroids."

"It is?" he asked as his eyes grew wide and wary as well.

Harry whistled and rubbed the back of his head nervously, '**_Oooooh, boy..._**'

* * *

><p>Back at Gatō's fortress, Zabuza was currently rested in bed and adjusting to the medicine Haku had given him about an hour ago. He started to feel his muscles loosen up and the pain wore off for the time being. But then he started feeling strange when it seemed like his muscles were beginning to swell very gradually. When he tried analyzing what was happening to him in his head, he started losing control of his emotions and start switching moods from angry to sad, and then back to angry again. The weirdest and most infuriating part for Zabuza was when he started crying right when Haku walked in to check on him.<p>

At the sounds of her master's poorly held-in weeping she looked over to him.

She asked him warily, "Are you okay, Master Zabuza?"

"Yeah. No. I'm fine..." he sniffed, "It's just... I start thinking and-ERGGGH! IT MAKES ME SO ANGRY!"

Haku's eyebrows almost flew off her face when Zabuza burst out like that and then started laughing in high-pitched wheezes and seemed to be smiling like a mad-man underneath the mask.

"What-what the hell was in that medicine?"

The young girl walked over to her basket sitting on top of the table by the window and looked over the plants she had picked with Naruto earlier that morning. She gulped and her eyes almost popped out of her skull when she realized the mistake she had made by picking the stronger variety of healing herbs. Zabuza continued to laugh as his pupils started dilating and the shadows under his eyes started to pinken as if he were punched in the face.

"What was in it?" he asked again.

Haku hid the herbs beneath a blanket in the basket and turned to her father nervously, "Nothing."

"RAHHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

><p><strong>Don't forget to review!<strong>


	8. The Enemies Return

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura

'_Blah_': Naruto's thoughts/other people's thoughts

'**_Blah_**': Harry talking to Naruto

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, I decided to cut Sasuke a break with the bashing as he must develop a relationship with Naruto prior to the events that are to come.<strong>

**Sasuke: Hn. About time you showed me respect.**

**Kvsyaoran & Azeroth44: SHUT UP!**

**AZ44: Interesting news, basically, I have killed Deathwing in the World of Warcraft...**

**Kvsyaoran: WHAT?**

**AZ44: (Cries river of tears) NOOOOOOOO!**

**Kvsyaoran: In the actual game?**

**AZ44: (Continues to cry) YES!**

**Kvsyaoran: Cheer up, mate! At least he wasn't finished off by one of the Daleks or something.**

**(Suddenly, the door slams open to reveal one of the most dangerous and hostile alien creatures to ever exist comes bursting in uninvited.) **

**Dalek: EXTERMINATE!**

**Kvsyaoran: OH DEAR LORD!**

* * *

><p><strong>In story-related news, I have decided to change the designs of the Akatsuki cloaks by removing the red and white clouds until they become more known to the shinobi world. The lack of expensive and colorful uniforms is to symbolize their humble and sneaking beginnings. Also it's to make them a lot less conspicuous until their cover is blown and their members are recognized. <strong>**It's to also be reminiscent to the Death Eater uniforms worn in the David Yates Harry Potter films. ****I might go with this, or maybe not. It really depends on what you guys think or what Azeroth44 thinks. Take your pick.**

****In other news, I HAVE FINALLY DECIDED AN ENDING FOR THE FIFTH BOOK! It took a long time but it's finally been thought out. ****

********I'm going to stick with the original title, but I'm going to make some noticeable changes in the story; For instance, I think that a little bit of genjutsu trickery would make a fine edition to the 3rd chapter to add to the drama and little montage of Naruto's life after Sasuke is gone would be great!****

****Without any further delays, here is the next chapter of the second part of Naruto Uzumaki's fantastic journey!****

* * *

><p>Chapter 8: The Enemies Return<p>

* * *

><p>{{<em>The Headless Hunt by John Williams<em>}}

On the morning of the seventh day into training, Kakashi and Sakura decided to go to the practice clearing to pay their hard-working friends a visit and see how the were coming along with the exercise. For the past few days, the two of them were both growing concerned as they hardly got the chance to see either of the boys in the mornings or at dinner. Before Tazuna got up to go to the bridge, Kakashi woke up extra early and collected Sakura. The two of them walked down to the forest, hoping to see how far their friends managed to climb up their individual trees. When they got to the location, there was no sign of them to be found. They waited for a few patient minutes until the loudmouthed kunoichi decided to cup her hands and call out for them.

"Sasuke-kun~!" she called, "Naruto-baka!"

She waited and listened for a response, but no one answered her except for a few chirping birds and noisy crickets. She huffed angrily and rested her hands on her hips in a frustrated gesture.

"I don't believe this. Knowing that yellow-haired idiot, he could be anywhere." she said.

Kakashi grunted angrily and said in a gruff, "Sakura, quit complaining and making fun of your teammate or I'll assign you to another squad when we get home."

Sakura looked to her sensei warily and kept her mouth shut until a kunai came zooming from up above them. The knife embedded itself into the earth, prompting Kakashi and the pink-haired fangirl to look up when they heard the sounds of a distant and familiar friendly voice.

"Wotcher, you guys!"

They spotted Naruto hanging over a branch that jutted out of the tree over three-hundred feet above their heads. The boy smiled down at his friends and waved to them in greeting. Kakashi raised his eyebrows at his student's progress, he really didn't expect for him to show such incredible progress in such a short amount of time. Sakura kept shaking her head, even pinching herself to make sure she wasn't still in bed dreaming.

"Whoa...He can climb up that high using his chakra?" she awed and then praised, "That's really great!"

"Hmm!" her teacher mused approvingly.

Naruto couldn't resist standing up on the branch, "High enough for you guys? This is quite a sight! I'm tellin' you!"

He started walking up and down his branch, taking in the spectacular view of the forest when he accidentally took an extra step forward. His foot slipped and threw him off balance. He tried waving his arms to make himself lean forward, but the damage had already been done and he started falling off the branch.

"You idiot!" the pinked-haired kunoichi screamed.

Kakashi gasped and then yelled, "NO! If he falls from that height-"

Sakura screamed as he began to fall down to earth. The older jounin gripped at his only crutch as he wasn't fully healed enough to jump up and help save his student from harm. But all of their worrying and screaming stopped when Naruto focused his chakra carefully and used it to attach his feet to the bottom of the branch he had fallen off from. The last-minute ditch-effort worked and Naruto saved himself from certain doom. Kakashi and Sakura both sighed in relief as their blonde friend dangled from side to side like a holiday tree ornament.

"I'm good! I'm good!" he assured them confidently, "My feet are stuck to the tree! See? I'm all good!"

His female teammate flustered with embarrassment as she held her hands up to her face as she tried to hide how worried she was for him, "Y-you idiot! I almost had a heart-attack!

'**_Given the time she spends exercising, I wouldn't be surprised._**'

Kakashi looked up with his previously laid-back expression and thought to himself, '_There is no way that this is going to end well._'

At that thought, Naruto felt his feet begin to slip away from the bottom of the branch as all the blood began to flow up to his head and deteriorate his hold on the tree. Several short seconds later, the control gave out and the boy popped right off of the branch like a champagne cork. Kakashi's eyes turned as round as saucers and Sakura yelled in outrage as she thought her teammate was trying to pull a fast one on them.

"UH-OH!" he yelled.

Sakura screamed, "YOU BETTER BE JOKING THIS TIME, NARUTO!"

The golden-hared genin yelled all the way down until he suddenly stopped when a dark-haired figure attached himself to the branch where his partner had fallen from and grabbed him by his ankle. He finally stopped yelling and looked at his feet where he saw Sasuke looking down at him with a slight smirk on his pale face.

"What would you do without me, Naruto?" he breathed.

The boy smiled at him lightly and nodded his head in appreciation instead of losing himself in a fit of frustration, "Thank you."

"Oh!" they both heard their teammate squeal, "Hooray for Sasuke-kun! He saved the day again!"

Kakashi loosened his grip over his crutch and smiled up at his other two students as they were finally beginning to leave behind their differences again, "If I'm still sane by the end of their training, it'll be a miracle!"

* * *

><p>"One hundred and eighty-six... one hundred and eighty-seven... one hundred and eighty-eight..."<p>

Tazuna and Sakura were currently assisting with getting Kakashi back into shape by sitting on top of him while he performed a remarkable number of push-ups using only his his index finger to push off the ground. His fantastic body had healed remarkably fast and was only one more afternoon and a good night's sleep away from being back at the peak of his physical health.

As he watched him push up against the floor over and over again, Tazuna kept asking the same question in his head over and over until he could no longer hold it in.

"Hatake-san..." he started, "I keep meaning to ask you... Why is it that you've still decided to stay, even after you found out that I lied just to bring you out here?"

Kakashi didn't answer until he performed another seven push-ups, making his biceps swell to the point where they almost seemed to start bulging and making his sleeves of his dark shirt look skin-tight. When he felt the muscles in his arms begin to feel the weight of the people resting on top of him, Kakashi finally answered the bridge-builder, "'_Those who stray from the path of justice have no courage, but under the wing of a strong leader, cowardice cannot survive._'"

The old man looked perplexed and so did the girl sitting right next to him.

"That was a quote from the Shodai Hokage..." he explained, "A true shinobi does not dance to the tune of whoever pays the piper."

Tazuna slowly got off of the jounin's back when he grunted at one hundred and ninety-nine push-ups, quickly followed by the pink-haired kunoichi. Naruto entered the living room to see where the rest of the team was before he soon retreated from Sakura, who started to chase him throughout the house, demanding for the information he promised about Sasuke. The masked-jounin called for Sakura to knock it off as he cracked his knuckles and got ready to end something before it started. The bridge-builder stood still from where he got up and smiled at the teacher and his students, feeling truly grateful for them all being here and protecting him.

"Thank you, Hatake-san." he whispered to himself.

* * *

><p>After the chase was over, Naruto made his way back up to the shared guest bedroom to pick up a new kunai and check to see if Sasuke was ready to go back to the forest. He scaled the steps and entered the bedroom to see Sasuke with his back mostly turned to the door. He appeared to be studying from a small black handbook with instructions and complex diagrams. The dark-haired genin heard his teammate come in and looked over his shoulder to face him as he lowered his handbook down to his lap.<p>

Sasuke raised his eyebrows and asked, "Yeah? What's up?"

"You ready to go down to the woods?" he asked.

The older boy nodded, "Sure thing. Just give me a minute."

Naruto nodded back to him when he came in to pick up his new kunai. He was on his way back downstairs when he caught a glimpse of one of the pictures in Sasuke's handbook. He barely managed to catch a glimpse of it but he could have sworn that he saw a series of hand-drawn solid-red circles with black pinwheel designs on them, along with notes scribbled in solid black ink that were written in a strange form of kanji.

"What's that you got there?" he asked curiously.

Sasuke immediately closed the book and said, "It's nothing. Could you meet me down there at the woods? I'll bring us lunch for later."

"M'kay." the younger boy said as he made his way back downstairs.

Sasuke looked over his shoulder one more time, making sure no one was watching him before he went back to his handbook and wrote down what appeared to be a name under one of the red and black pinwheel images. He looked over his shoulder for his teammate before he closed the book and tucked it away into the deepest pocket of his backpack.

* * *

><p>Back at Gatō's fortress, Zabuza appeared to be recovering just as quickly as Kakashi.<p>

He was out of bed and working out on a regular basis. He donned a new outfit consisting a sleeveless black shirt and matching pants, complete with a waist-guard, and a new pair of striped wrist and leg-warmers. He was currently sitting down on a bench in the main meeting room, holding a delicious red apple in his right hand. He stared at the succulent forbidden fruit intently as he started squeezing it. The apple cracked and then suddenly exploded into a thousand wet and fleshy pieces. Zabuza smirked underneath his mask as he saw the last of the apple crumble from his fingers and fall onto the floor in a messy white pile of mush and juice. His lovely female assistant was standing right next to him and looking down at the wasted food on the ground.

"It seems like your strength has almost fully returned." she complimented.

Zabuza grunted and said softly, "Your medicine has done wonders for me, Haku... I'll be ready for the offensive by tomorrow morning..."

"That's good to hear..." she said with and uneven smile.

The grey-skinned criminal stood up and stretched, "I'm going to make another stop at the gym downstairs... Ring me up when supper is being served, okay?"

Haku nodded to her master as he made way for the double doors and down the grand staircase to the gym on the ground floor. Once she was sure that her master was no longer within possible hearing distance, Haku sighed and then frowned when she thought back to the blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy she had met in the woods. She couldn't explain why, but she felt conflicted and nervous when she thought of the battle that was to come tomorrow morning.

'_Naruto-kun..._'

* * *

><p>{{<em>Confrontation by John Williams (The Remembrall Chase Scene)<em>}}

Harry smiled at his younger brother proudly as he and Sasuke went back to the trees and raced each other for hours on end. He was finally doing it and helping the Uchiha heir as he wished to on the night of the massacre. With starting the race, Sasuke's behavior these past few days had improved. The black-haired genin didn't call Naruto by any demeaning nicknames for over two days and hadn't made fun of him or belittled him either. It seemed, for the time being, that these two could actually be friends, given the way they used to behave.

Though it would still take a lot more time for the black-haired genin to choose to forget about his revenge and make a better living for himself and rebuild his clan.

Naruto and Sasuke slowly descended toward the ground, deciding to take a break to refuel for another shot to the top. The genin gathered at the center of the clearing, where the remains of their lunch were gathered along with their canteens. Sasuke sat down and helped himself to a swig of his water as his teammate caught his breath and finished off the remains of a rice ball he snacked on for lunch. Once they had both settled down, Sasuke looked up to the skies and saw the final rays of sunlight set bursting across the clouds. He looked back to the trail that lead to the house and back to the trees and sky.

"We might have to wrap this up soon." he said.

The blonde sitting close by looked to him and smirked, "You're not trying to weasel yourself out of the race now, are you?"

"No way! No way in hell!" he snapped insistently.

They both helped each other up and together looked up at the trees and the orange sky stretching above them.

"Okay, first one to the top has to buy the other one lunch, deal?" offered the young wizard.

Sasuke looked to him without turning his head and answered with a smirk, "Fine by me, Naruto."

The two of them got ready by backing off of their gatherings and made sure they had an even amount of space to run. Once they were an appropriate distance away from the trees, they got down low and got ready to make a break for it.

"Ready, Set, GO!"

The genin bolted to the trees and ran up them at top speeds. Harry watched in amusement as Naruto and Sasuke raced up thirty, forty, sixty, eighty feet up the face of the trees. When they reached the one hundred and fifty foot mark, large branches stood in their path and they were left with no other choice but to jump off of the other neighboring trees and ricochet until they could return to their original trees. They continued to climb up until the leafs and branches slowly disappeared underneath them. The darkening sky, bright stars, and wonderful moon all came bursting out between the foliage and blanketed the genin with a natural nighttime light. Their race continued until they could climb no higher and the trees got too thin for them to press their feet against.

Naruto and Sasuke both jumped when there was no more room and together they grabbed at the only branches they could hold on to for support. The race was finally over and they had accomplished what their sensei asked of them. The genin took their time to catch their breath and let the cool, crisp summer air breeze against their sweat-drenched faces. Sasuke looked down and almost lost it as he had a slight fear of heights, considering the proper circumstances. Naruto could just barely make out the entire forest from this height and could have sworn he could see Tazuna's bridge. From what he could tell, it appeared that the bridge was finished as it went all the way out to sea. Sasuke could see the lights of machines and lanterns suddenly go out as the lights of the nearby town started glowing with life.

The black-haired genin looked to his teammate and his teammate looked over at him, both of them trying to find out which one of them had won the race.

Naruto proclaimed once he was sure, "Ha! I beat you!"

"No way! I beat you!" the Uchiha protested.

The boy retorted reasonably, "That's completely false! I got here first!"

"I'll prove it to you! You'll see!"

The blonde-haired wizard challenged him, "How? You wanna come all the way over here? It's just one jump away!"

"Shut up, Naruto."

All was quiet for a few minutes as the genin took the time they had to take in the extraordinary view presented in front of them and stared out to the other islands and neighboring communities until they appeared as stars like the ones hanging over their heads. Sasuke scanned the landscape one last time before he looked to his teammate with eyes closed in a cool and calm fashion.

"What do you say we go back?" he offered.

Naruto nodded and shouted over to him, "Yeah! I say we have this mastered!"

"I guess I'm inclined to agree with you for once!"

* * *

><p>It took the two genin over fifteen minutes to get down to the ground without exerting their energies or slipping down and falling. When the two of them got down to the ground, they collected their things and marched back to the house. While on the long way back, Naruto decided to keep the ice broken by talking to his teammate in a normal conversation, "Did you actually know that you can use this exercise to make yourself move faster or jump like Spider-Man?"<p>

The Uchiha raised his eyebrows at his teammate's insight knowledge, "Actually, I didn't know that..."

"I dunno how it's done though. Maybe I'll ask Kakashi-sensei about it some other time." he said optimistically.

Sasuke shrugged as he jumped over a large tree root, "You do that."

Naruto failed to notice the root his partner hopped over and he tripped rather clumsily. Sasuke rolled his eyes at his teammate and picked him up off the ground, hulling his right arm over his shoulder so that he could help him get back without hurting himself.

"You'll just have to face the facts, Naruto. You might never be able to catch up to my level." he half-joked.

The blonde wizard shrugged, "Don't be so sure of that, Uchiha. You know that kind of confidence could get you killed!"

"Speak for yourself. I'm not the one whole almost broke their neck the other day while showing off." he retorted smartly.

Naruto snorted, "Oh! Who was the one who broke the Demon Brother's chain? Not exactly your finest moment, Uchiha!"

"...You win this round, Naruto..." he answered stubbornly after a long pause.

The blonde boy laughed and smiled at his teammate as he grabbed a hold of Sasuke so that he couldn't escape. The black-haired clan heir found the sudden gesture and contact to be very uncomfortable and he tried to removed him half-heartedly to give himself some space. This only got worse for Sasuke as his partner started acting like he drank a couple dozen butterbeers and began to sing in victory of all that was accomplished these past few days, "_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, Teach us something please~!_"

Sasuke tried to throw him off, but his grip was just too tight to remove himself from.

"Hey! Will you _stop_ singing? _You're embarrassing me!_"

Naruto swung his other arm up in the air as if he were holding a bottle of sake. Sasuke felt even more embarrassed when his teammate shouted out to the heavens without caring about who saw the two of them together, "There isn't a soul out for miles to see! You're good, Uchiha! Now sing with me!"

"Okay, that's it! Did you gather seawater in your canteen or something? It's either that or you're insane!"

* * *

><p>Back at the house, dinner was being served and Sakura was looking down at her plate nervously. She looked over to the door and frowned when no one swung it open to reveal her pale-skinned prince or presumably idiotic teammate.<p>

"They're both late this time..." she said.

Kakashi closed his eyes and answered in a humorously philosophical voice, "I'm sure they'll be here momentarily. Whenever boys get hungry, they retreat to where there is food. Trust me."

"I would never expect something like this from Sasuke-kun."

The jounin secretly rolled his eyes at his female student's obsessive behavior and wished desperately that his own teammates were still around to set her straight. But just as he was beginning to reminisce, the front door opened and revealed Sasuke, who was still carrying his half-singing and exhausted blonde teammate. Everybody in the room turned to them and raised their eyebrows at their appearances. Compared to everyone else in the room, who were all cleaned and freshly dressed, they looked absolutely filthy with dirt and grime all over their faces and clothes.

"What have you two been up to?" asked the old man at the end of the table.

Naruto stopped singing and said to his teacher, "We did it... We both... made it to the top..."

"Good," the jounin nodded, "Starting tomorrow, you will both serve as bodyguards to Tazuna."

The youngest of the genin used whatever strength he had to punch his left fist into the air and cheered, "ALRIGHT! Dattebayo!"

But that swing of his arm created an unstoppable momentum that threw Naruto off his feet and dragged Sasuke to the ground with him. The boy let out a clumsy yell and his partner joined him when they hit the ground in a messy heap.

"S-sorry!" he sputtered.

His teammate growled, "You idiot!"

Everyone at the table except for Inari started laughing at Naruto's antics before they were helped up to the table. Harry joined in on all the laughter, even though no one in the world could hear his voice except for the shinobi with golden-blonde hair. Kakashi gave Naruto a congratulatory ruffle of his hair as Tazuna took a swig from his favorite bottle of sake as a reward to the progress he made with his project. With all the work he had put into today, he looked just as tired and messy as the two boys that had just joined the table.

"As if we couldn't have anymore good news, the bridge is almost complete!" he announced proudly, "While I may only have a handful of workers left to help me, the bridge will be finished within three weeks time!"

Tsunami removed his glass from the table and said, "You and Naruto are two of a kind, dad. Just don't work yourselves to death!"

"I guess we are very similar... Only I'm not a midget like you." he admitted and then teased.

The boy sitting two seats away from him suddenly snapped, "If you call me short one more time, I'm gonna piss in my hands and toss it in your face..."

"Easy, Naruto..." his teacher slowly patted his head, "He's not worth it."

Naruto calmed himself down after exhaustion overwhelmed him and he almost fell asleep while dinner was being served.

* * *

><p>All was fine and calm that evening after dinner. Those gathered around the table were settling down over a warm cup of tea, musing about the next day at the bridge. As Naruto rested his tired head over top his crossed arms, the younger boy sitting across from him stared at him intently. At seeing the grime and the dirt smeared on his face, Inari was reminded of his father the day he saved the town from the overflowing riverbank. He had the same content smile on his face as his father when he emerged out of the water and flexed his arms.<p>

_If you care about something, keep trying, protect it with both arms..._

The young boy twitched at the reminder and saw a proud smile slowly curve upon Naruto's face. Inari twitched again when he envisioned his father tied to the post with his arms cut clean off his body, that same smile on his face even when he knew he was doomed. When he flashed back to reality, tears began to form in his eyes as he started to glare at Naruto angrily. Blaming the blonde-haired foreigner for reminding him of his father and the pain that his death brought.

_Don't cry... Inari..._

The dark-haired boy lowered his head over his eyes as his began to turn red out of rage and misery. Naruto heard a very subtle whimper emerge from him and he looked up to see tears streaming down Inari's cheeks. He sat up in his seat and looked to the younger child as he managed to utter one very quiet but wrathful word.

"W-why?"

Naruto raised one of his eyebrows at the child and he asked out of concern, "Hm? What's the matter, Inari?"

Everyone in the room jumped or looked to the younger child as he lifted his head at blonde shinobi sitting with a surprised expression. Inari's face was red with frustration and anguish, as tears streamed down his face in torrents. The little boy's family all looked to him sadly as the members of Team 7 all looked alarmed and concerned when the child slammed his palms against the table and threw his tea cup at Naruto in an attempt to punish him for putting so much effort into a fruitless cause. The cup missed but what was thrown at him next hit it's mark.

"_Why are you wasting your time with all this stupid training and hard work!_ It's a total waste of time!" he yelled angrily, "_No matter how hard you train or work, Gatō will walk all over you and kill you all! Don't you get that?_"

Naruto looked at the younger child with a disapproving eye as he continued to shout at him angrily.

"_All these things you say, they don't mean anything!_ _No matter what you do, the strong always win and the weak always lose!_ _Can't you get that through your head?_"

The older boy spoke up and said calmly, "I'm not like you, Inari... at least not anymore... I'm not going to be brought down by a man just because he stands on other peoples shoulders and calls himself tall..."

"_Why don't you shut up, you stupid idiot?_" Inari roared, "Watching you makes me sick! _You don't know anything about this country!_ You're just in the way! Always laughing and playing and singing around! _YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT SUFFERING OR PAIN!_"

Naruto twitched when he heard that last bit and his expression and voice changed very dramatically. He slowly looked to Inari, his sapphire eyes going from round and soft to sharp and intense. He did not look at the younger child as he spoke to him in a voice that made him and some of the other people in the room feel slightly alarmed.

"Take a good look at yourself..." he said slowly, "Acting like you're the only person in the world who's ever gone through a rough time in their life..." he cracked his knuckles as he balled his hands into fists, "Take a good and long look at yourself as well everyone else in your little country that's just given up out of sheer cowardice..."

"Uh..." the younger boy struggled as he tried to say something in his defense.

"When I look at you... wallowing in you're own self-pity... and not standing up and changing things like your father tried to do, it makes _me_ feel sick to my stomach..."

"I-I-I..." he struggled terribly.

Naruto scoffed at him and said angrily, "Just hide in the corner and keep crying all day, you big baby..."

Inari started breaking down under all of the pressure and guilt that Naruto had piled on top of him. He tried to hold back his sobs and tears, but failed very miserably as he resorted to hiding his face underneath his hat. Sakura immediately turned to the offensive and got ready to beat her teammate into a pulp for making Inari start crying.

"You idiot! You went too far this time, Naruto!" she yelled.

Surprisingly, the blonde shinobi ignored her and stood up from his seat to leave, "Sakura-chan, please be quiet."

"You get back here and apologize, you moron!" she screamed as he walked upstairs to go to bed.

Sasuke looked over at his pink-haired teammate and growled at her, "Sakura, cut it out!"

Kakashi sighed after the whole scene played out in front of him. Tazuna sighed sadly as Tsunami picked up the tea cup Inari threw and cleaned up the green liquid that was splattered all over the walls and floor. The jounin looked up at Naruto who started storming up the stairs to his guest bedroom, clearly upset as the jounin noticed him twitch darkly when Inari yelled that he knew nothing of suffering or pain. He then looked back to the younger child in pity as he continued to hold back his tears and sobs very poorly.

* * *

><p>The golden-haired genin went to bed early that night but could barely sleep a wink after the fight at dinner. When Sasuke joined him, he went straight to his futon and passed out to get a good night sleep for the following morning, leaving Naruto with no one to talk to apart from his invisible companion. To help get himself to sleep, he grabbed a few comic books and jumped onto the desk by the window to read. He didn't want to switch on the lamp and hear his rival complain about it, so he resorted to using moonlight. Naruto started reading an old copy of The Incredible Hulk when he heard some voices coming from outside the window. He looked down and saw Kakashi sitting at the edge of the dock with Inari sitting down next him. The blonde's curiosity sparked, so he opened up the window a crack and listened in.<p>

"Naruto wasn't trying to be mean to you..." he said gently, "You're grandfather told us about what happened to your father... You may not know this, but Naruto also grew up without a father... In fact, he never got to know either of his parents and he didn't have a single real friend in our village until very recently..."

Inari turned to the jounin in surprise as Naruto looked down and raised his eyebrows slightly.

"But for as long as I've known him, I've never seen him cry, sulk, or give up when the going got tough for him... If you ask me, I figure he must have gotten tried of crying and decided to stand up and do something about it."

The civilian child continued to stare up at the jounin as he continued.

"Even though he's young and still learning, he knows what it takes to be strong... Much like your father did... I think he knows, better than any of us, what you're probably going through... Those words he used at dinner, as cruel as they seemed, he's probably told himself that over a thousand times... In a tough-love situation, he was probably just trying to help you..."

Naruto soon shut the window and closed his comic book as he didn't feel like reading anymore. He tucked himself into his futon and threw his things into his beaded bag. Before he decided to finally go to sleep, he dug into his bag one more time and pulled out his leather-bound photo album. He looked through several photographs and looked at the picture of himself and Iruka and then moved over to a picture of him and his redhead mother. He looked up at them and then thought back to Kaiza and Inari before he closed the album and stuffed it in the bottom of his bag. He hid himself underneath his sheets before he closed his eyes and willed himself into a coma with a sleep-inducing spell.

* * *

><p>The following morning, Kakashi was up before anybody else and he stretched out and flexed his muscles to test his physical capacities. He did a few simple exercises before he jumped up onto a pole hanging from the ceiling and did several hundred pull-ups and determined himself to be at the peak of his original strength. In about one hour, Tsunami had woken up and prepared breakfast while Kakashi was in the bathroom, changing into another of his uniforms. Approximately three minutes after that, he was fully dressed and two of his three students arrived also dressed and ready to take on their expected duties.<p>

The jounin sensei smiled, "You guys are up and ready?"

"Yeah." said the brooding Uchiha.

Sakura complied enthusiastically, "Reporting for duty, Kakashi-sensei!"

"Where's Naruto?" their teacher asked as Tazuna was heard clomping down the stairs.

Sasuke answered him, "He's out cold. I tried shaking him awake but he refuses to come out of bed. If it weren't for his snoring, I'd say he was in a coma."

"Well, that's a shame," answered the bridge-builder, "Still, we should head down to the bridge?"

Kakashi turned to the old man and said, "That's the plan. We should let him sleep, since all that extra training has taken it's toll on him. I wouldn't expect Naruto to be able to move for the rest of the day."

A few minutes later, after a quick breakfast, the incomplete team set out for the bridge with Tazuna leading the parade. Tsunami bid them a kind farewell and watched them off until they disappeared from view. She soon returned to the house to get another plate of breakfast ready for her son and possibly for their guest sleeping upstairs.

* * *

><p>About forty-five minutes after the team had left, Naruto slowly opened his eyes when the sun pierced through his window and almost blinded him. He let out a long yawn before he turned his head to the clock hanging on the wall by the door and squinted his eyes so that he could see it properly. It took him some time to see it clearly, but he soon read the clock and realized that he was well-over an hour late and looked to the other side of the bedroom to see his teammate was gone and took his weapons with him.<p>

"I SLEPT IN!"

In the mindscape, Harry was asleep as well but he was suddenly woken up when he heard his companion scream like he did in the real world. He fell out of his bed and almost jumped out of his pajamas when he heard the scream and scrambled when his glasses fell off of his face. The wizard picked up his fallen glasses and changed his clothes into his usual wear before he fumed at his younger brother for having been so loud again.

'_**Must you be so loud in the morning? So you took a little extra sleepy, it's not the end of the world, Little one!**_'

The blonde genin quickly sprint downstairs and cursed when he noticed everyone but Tsunami and Inari were around. She was knitting some type of clothing and was having her son help her by holding the line of yarn. The two civilians looked to the shinobi in surprise when he poked his head into the lounge and shifted his head from side to side in search for his friends.

"Oh! Naruto, what are you doing up?" the young mother asked in surprise.

The boy answered her as he removed his sleeping cap, "Sorry to be rude, but where is Kakashi-sensei and the others? Don't tell me they left already!"

"Your master wanted you to take today off..." she said as her son looked away.

He growled in frustration and disappeared back up the stairs, "This is just like the time they left me at the bell test post!"

Naruto quickly changed into one of his orange and blue tracksuits, wrapped his headband around his forehead, and sprint back down the stairs so fast that he left a trail of dust in his wake. He whisked out of the hallway and stormed out the front door, bidding Tsunami and her son farewell. Inari lifted his head up when Naruto left and listened to the sounds of his footsteps until they disappeared.

* * *

><p>Kakashi and the others soon arrived at the incomplete bridge and found it mysteriously abandoned. The remaining workers on the project were not to be seen, even though their names were punched in and their hardhats were taken off their hooks. The group searched the area cautiously until they found them beaten to an inch of their lives with blood and bruises covering their bodies. Tazuna rushed to one of the workers and tried to help in any way he could to get some answers.<p>

"_What the hell happened here?_"

One of the injured carpenters barely had enough strength left in him to talk, but they managed to get out a single word of warning as to what they were up against, "_M-m-monsters..._"

* * *

><p>In the forests leading to the bridge, Naruto jumped through the trees in a desperate attempt to reach his team before he could miss out on any of the action. He jumped from tree to tree, failing to realize how fast, swift, and graceful he had become after all his time training to use his chakra. He had definitely advanced to the next level of his shinobi training.<p>

'_I can't believe they would just leave me like that! Didn't Kakashi-sensei say that I could join in on the mission today?_'

'_**To be fair, you were impossible to wake up, Little one. He probably thought that all of that training had taken it's toll on you physically...**_'

'_Still, he could have tried to wake me up._'

'_**I think Sasuke tried kicking you awake. But that could have been a dream for all I know.**_'

'_Meh... Let's just get there now before anything gets in our way._'

Just as the blonde genin leapt off of a large branch, he heard a subtle rustling sound and spotted something in a gathering of bushes. Naruto stopped jumping through the trees and looked towards the source of the rustling. He slid down the tree and investigated the source of the noise with a kunai in hand. When he looked to the other side of the bushes he gasped and backed away when he saw a dead boar with it's throat sliced open and ribbons decorated all over it's hairy skin.

"What the bloody hell is this?" he said in surprise and disgust.

The older wizard turned serious and pondered over the corpse, '_**So much for not letting anything get in our way.**_'

Naruto investigated the wounds of the dead creature and recognized the slash marks to be that of a sword. But that wasn't the end of it. He noticed ribbons and more slash marks were engraved into the bark of numerous trees. The boy followed the markings cautiously and it didn't take him that long before he realized that the markings were leading away from the bridge but back to Tazuna's house. Naruto quickened his pace and panicked when he thought of the oblivious civilians that were still there at the homestead.

"Tsunami... INARI!" he cried.

* * *

><p>Tsunami was in the back room of the house to fold the laundry when she called out to her son for assistance, "Inari? Could you please help mommy?"<p>

"I'll be one minute!" he answered from the bathroom.

As the young woman folded another shirt of her father's, there was a sudden alien breeze and then she jumped when she heard the sound of heavy planks of wood falling to the ground. She turned her head and gasped when the wall of her house collapsed and she saw the same two samurai warriors she had seen at her husband's execution. The shorter one wearing the strange cap looked at her with a thirsty look on his twisted face. The other man looked just as thirsty as they drew their swords again and began to approached the innocent woman.

"Hello beautiful..." said the one with the cap, "You're coming with us..."

* * *

><p>Kakashi looked up from the injured men and noticed a storm of mist was fast approaching. The white clouds engulfed the bridge in a matter of seconds and made everything as it was when they first crossed the boarders into this country. The air turned moist and the atmosphere chilled as the injured carpenters squirmed in fear and Tazuna removed himself from his workers and retreated to his bodyguards. Kakashi took one cautious step and his two students drew out their weapons as they got ready for the battle that most of them had been training for the past week and a half.<p>

"This mist..." he said to his students, "It's him..."

Tazuna did nothing but wait as Kakashi reached back for his weapons pouch, Sakura took out a single shuriken, and her teammate drew out two kunai and focused his chakra into his feet. All was unnaturally quiet on the bridge as they waited for their enemy to reveal himself. But without any warning, the group was surrounded by men wearing black sleeveless shirts and bandage facial wrapping, wielding gigantic swords and standing over twenty feet tall. There were at least ten of them surrounding them, reaching back to swing their swords and slice their targets into pieces.

* * *

><p>To Be Continued<p>

* * *

><p><strong>The battle for the Land of Waves has begun, but I have my own battles to fight.<strong>

**Dalek: EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!**

**(Shoots laser but misses)**

**Naruto: JEEZ! WHERE DID THESE THING COME FROM?**

**AZ44: It's a long story! But it's also a pretty awesome story!**

**Deadpool: Someone need my help?**

**Dalek: EXTERMINATE!**

**(Fires laser at Deadpool and the anti-hero falls)**

**Kvsyaoran: Oh my God! They killed Deadpool!**

**Naruto: You bastard!**

**Kvsyaoran: To be continued in the next chapter! The plot thickens!**

* * *

><p>Be sure to leave behind a review after you've read this!<p> 


	9. The Battle for the Land of Waves

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura/Giant Zabuza

'_Blah_': Naruto's thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

* * *

><p><strong>Dalek: EXTERMINATE!<strong>

**Kvsyaoran: THEY KILLED DEADPOOL! GET DOWN!**

**Azeroth44: Where the hell did they come from?**

**Naruto: The imagination of Russell T Davies!**

**Kvsyaoran: WE'RE DOOMED!**

**(Figure kicks down the door and reveals LeafRanger holding an EMP cannon)**

**LR: Good night, sucker!**

**Dalek: EXTERMI-**

**(BLAST!)**

**LR: That's for Deadpool.**

**(BLAST!)**

**LR: That's for being so annoying!**

**(BLAST!) **

**LR: And that's because I felt like it!**

**(BLAST! BLAST! BLAST!)**

**LR: Yosh!**

**Naruto: Awesome…**

**Kvsyaoran: That was incredible, man!**

**LR: Why, thank you!**

**Azeroth44: At least we weren't up against Cybermen… That would have been a disaster!**

**Kvsyaoran: YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW WHEN TO SHUT UP!**

**(Wall blasts open and in comes one of the Cybermen)**

**Cyberman: DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!**

**LR: Oh, COME ON!**

* * *

><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto**

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling and Warner Bros**

* * *

><p>Chapter 9: Battle of the Land of Waves<p>

* * *

><p>Kakashi Hatake looked deep into the eyes of the water clones and caught a glance of his other two students once the two of them took in the number of their enemies. Sakura tried to remain as brave as she could while Sasuke kept his head down and started to shake like he did back in the original fight over a week ago. He was frightened and couldn't bring himself to move even while he held his kunai up in a defensive position.<p>

"**It's been a while, Kakashi...**"

The voice of the human-demon spoke to the group through all of the clones while each of them was preparing to fight to the death.

"**And I see you have those same brats tagging along like last time... Heh... The black-haired one... he's trembling... the poor thing...**"

It was that last taunting aggravation that gave the Uchiha heir the strength to stop shaking and started to smirk at the first water clone he could see. He gripped his weapon more firmly and looked into the black eyes of the clone before he spoke in the same cool voice that caused the girl standing close to him to smile like this battle would be another walk through the park.

"I'm trembling because I'm excited for a rematch." he said.

Kakashi sensed his student give off an impressive amount of chakra when he focused it down to his feet just like he had been instructing him and the rest of his students this past week. The jounin showed off another of his famous smiles and gave the black-haired prince a thumbs-up before he instructed him with a carefree voice.

He said, "I guess you've earned your turn this time. Go ahead, Sasuke."

With the mention of his name, the heir to the Uchiha ran with the help of his chakra and sliced through the first clone and drew its blood. He disappeared and sliced through the next one. Sasuke disappeared another time and cut another clone in half before he used another kunai and slashed through the remaining clones and returned to his original position. The black-haired genin struck a pose out of habit, holding his kunai behind him and let his hair fall down against his face for an added effect. Sakura blushed and then squealed while the bridge builder smiled at seeing the clones sudden explode with blood before turning back into cold water and splashing down onto the surface of the incomplete bridge.

"I can see..." said the Uchiha prince.

The group soon relaxed before they looked towards the completed end of the bridge and saw two dark figures watching them from a distance. It was Zabuza, sporting a new outfit and standing alongside the female wearing the mask. The tall and dark swordsman scoffed at the sight of the genin that defeated his clones as if it were practice before being followed with the kunoichi obscuring her face with the mask of a hunter-nin.

"What a waste of chakra..." he said, "It looks like my clones weren't a match against the brat this time... It appears that he's grown up into a significant rival, hasn't he?"

Haku answered him, "I would imagine so, sir."

* * *

><p>Tsunami let out a terrible scream from the remains of the back room of her home. She recognized the two samurai from the afternoon of her husband's execution. These two men were the ones that killed him in front of the rest of the citizens of their town. The short one with the ridiculous cap was named Zōri and the man next to him with the muscles and tattoos was named Waraji. The two samurai destroyed another wall of the room to intimidate the mother and she tried making a break for it towards the living room and kitchen. But the samurai were fast to act and chased her down before she had a chance to break for the bathroom and escape with her child. The samurai named Zōri grabbed her from behind and threw her into the kitchen. She crashed into the cabinet and started to bleed in several places before she wiped it clean and trembled at the sight of the shirtless man with the hideous scars and muscles. Inari had heard the commotion from the bathroom and peered around the corner before he froze.<p>

He then cried out in terror, "Mommy!"

Tsunami heard the scream of her son and reached out for him to hide, "Inari! Don't come in here! RUN AWAY!"

The two samurai saw the small child trembling at the corner and tilted their heads at him and itched for their swords. The man wearing the cap frowned at the child while his partner scoffed and rested his hand on his waist.

"Should we grab this one too?" asked the man with the scars.

Zōri answered him, "Nah, the boss told us we needed one hostage. The brat here is expendable."

"Heh! Too bad for this one!" he said back in a wild voice.

The samurai removed his sword from his waist and was seconds from slicing the poor child into thousands of pieces but then the mother on the ground behind them both screamed out in a powerful voice that was alien to her scared child. The warrior looked back at Tsunami and saw her glaring at the two of them while she grabbed a kitchen knife and aimed it at her own heart. She looked up at the men starring down at her and quickly put away their weapons once they realized what she intended to do. She then spoke to the ruthless men that executed her husband with a strong and threatening voice.

"If you dare touch my child, I will stab this blade into my heart. What will you have for a hostage then? If you leave him alone, I will go with you and I promise not to struggle. Not for one second."

Inari reached out for his mother while he remained in his hiding place, "No, mommy!"

There was a pause for several intense moments before the samurai moved towards the brave woman when she dropped the weapon and let her hands become tied around her back. The men made sure she couldn't move her arms and smirked at the child whimpering in the corner. Inari watched as those terrible men took away his mother and left him there in the corridor to weep.

"You should be grateful you have such a good mom, brat."

"What a complete coward."

Inari cried and sobbed there in the hall and apologized to his mother for being too afraid and weak to protect her even after she was taken. He continued to sob and let out rivers of tears before he heard a voice echo inside his head that forced him to flashback to the previous night when Naruto called him out after his sudden outburst. He too had called him a coward and scolded him for it. The dark-haired child mulled over what the man with the silver hair had told him about how Naruto learned to stop crying and decided to take a stand in his life. Inari started thinking back to his father and the good deeds he had done and the sacrifices he made for the sake of his family and home. When he saw his mother threaten those men with the swords, he realized why his father had done all of those deeds and died. He started rubbing the tears from his face and stopped weeping when he thought about his grandfather and couldn't believe how foolish he had been to not realize why all of these people risked their lives with training and hard work. Inari soon stood tall in the corridor and dried up his face when he came to an inspiring revelation and no longer felt the need to be afraid. He stood tall and started marching out towards the hole that the samurai left behind.

He saw the men taking his mother to a boat at the end of the dock and thought bravely, '_I'm not gonna to cry anymore! I can be strong too! I can still be just like you, daddy!_'

The samurai forced the woman down towards the boat while the man with the purple cap started smelling her hair and caressing his fingers against the pale skin of her bound arms. He couldn't control himself and started to have a little bit of fun to make up for his failed date with the kunoichi that wore the mask.

"You smell good..." he said in a sick voice.

Tsunami remained strong and thought of her child, safe and sound inside of the house before the other despicable warrior told him to knock it off until the three of them reached headquarters. The two samurai started to go on about the horrible and repulsive ideas that popped into their heads now that they obtained a woman to satisfy their desires. But the duo was interrupted when they heard the sound of a small voice boom from behind them.

"STOP IT!" the child shouted.

Waraji smirked at the sight of the child glaring at the two of them, "Look at this, Zōri! The little mama's boy has come to save the day..."

"You should have stayed in the house, stupid kid." he smirked as well.

Tsunami turned around enough and soon shouted at her son, "NO, SWEETHEART!"

"Y-YOU GET AWAY FROM MY MOMMY!" the brave child clenched his fists even tighter before he looked up at the two men and charged at them without fear gripping at his heart.

Waraji and Zōri scoffed at the small child and smirked while he stormed toward them, "Such a waste of space..." commented the shorter one.

The samurai with the muscles said, "Let's waste him."

Tsunami turned white at hearing what the two of them said and gasped when they used their thumbs to pop their weapons out of their scabbards. The shine of their blades let a powerful reflection of the sun that blinded her for a few seconds before she looked to her son and screamed for him to leave. Inari continued to run and ignored his mother's orders. He closed his eyes and got ready to through a punch when the samurai threw the poor woman onto the deck. The sword-wielding warriors sprint towards Inari and grasped their blades before his mother let out one more terrible scream.

"INARI!"

There was a sudden flash, and the civilian child's hat flew up into the air before falling back down on top of a log that had been sliced to pieces in his place. The samurai were taken by surprise and recognized the fallen slices of wood as that of a Replacement Jutsu. Inari was gone and so was his mother. The warriors turned their heads until they spotted a blonde-haired preteen with orange and blue clothes, squatting down over one hundred feet from them. The samurai snarled at both the children and saw that the woman had fainted from shock. Inari opened his eyes and could believe it when he saw his savior letting him down and standing up to face the two men that attempted to murder him. The blonde-haired shinobi faced the samurai and announced his name with smooth and calm voice.

"Hello... I'm Naruto Ignotus Uzumaki..."

{{_I Am The Doctor by Murray Gold & the BBC National Orchestra of Wales_}}

He stood tall in his signature orange and blue tracksuit while the smaller black-haired child looked up in wonder as the sun reflected off of the surface of his silver headband. Inari couldn't believe what he was seeing as Naruto stood up tall and brave like the heroes he had once believed in. The foreign shinobi came out of nowhere and saved him and his mother from their demise, looking just as tough and unstoppable as his father looked when he emerged from the flooded river all those years ago. The older child looked down at the boy staring up at him and gave him a smile that caused him to feel calm and secure. Soon, Naruto looked back at the samurai that had put their swords back inside their scabbards out of a habit and glared at the genin that ruined their chances of slicing another victim other than the wild boar they killed on the way over here.

The muscular one asked, "Who is this kid? I bet he's one of the brats that Zabuza was talking about."

"Looks like it. Orange clothes and blonde hair. That's one of them." the one with the purple cap answered.

Naruto stared them down and spoke with a calm voice, "If either one of you value your lives, then I suggest that you leave now while you still got the chance."

The samurai laughed at the blonde-haired child before they started sprinting towards him and Inari with the intent to kill him.

"So that's how it's going to be..." said the blonde shinobi.

Inari gripped at the seams of the shinobi's orange pants and tried to hide himself behind his legs while the samurai unsheathed their swords. The genin didn't seem all that phased while he reached for his shuriken holster and started smiling at the two men.

"Let's see..." he said as he withdrew several shuriken, "How about we start off with some of the basics?"

Naruto reeled his arm back and threw the shuriken at the samurai. He watched as the silver stars whistled through the air only for the two men to use their swords and deflect them with minimal effort. He heard the sounds of thin metal dropping into the water before he heard the sounds of twin blades slicing through the wooden floor of the dock and sandaled footsteps charging towards his direction. Inari panicked and looked up to the blonde-haired shinobi standing close to him and noticed how calm and relaxed he appeared to be.

"They're coming this way!"

He closed his eyes for a split-second after he saw the samurai running at him fast without the use of chakra. He had read about samurai warriors in the books he had borrowed from the Academy and could remember reading that these warriors could rival shinobi in speed and strength. But these two were clowns in comparison to the warriors he had studied in his books. Samurai were supposed to be much faster than these two were and the swiftness of their movements should have been a whole lot more slick. But aside all that, the blonde-haired genin thought of a plan to get rid of these clowns in the most efficient way possible. Naruto smirked before he called out to the younger child hiding behind him to keep out of the battle and also keep his secret safe.

"Inari! Close your eyes now, or you'll go blind!" he ordered.

The child did as he was told and kept his eyes closed shut while Naruto and Harry worked together and concentrated a massive amount of magic through his arm. The tips of his fingers turned warm with raw magical power and the blonde genin stretched out his arm and aimed the tips of his fingers at the samurai. He smirked before he snapped his fingers and unleashed a powerful curse he had been saving to use in the real world for a long time. The samurai would never know what hit them.

He shouted at the top of his voice, "_Confringo!_"

With that single incantation, the blonde-haired genin unleashed a powerful jet of orange light that erupted out of his hands and blasted the samurai off their feet. The curse had split off into two separate directions, one of them striking the men and the other blasting a hole through the windmill that powered the house. The part of the curse that struck the samurai had blasted an entire section of the dock and the boat into millions of pieces. The two samurai landed in the water over a thousand feet away and were rendered unconscious before their bodies crashed into the water. When the two of them eventually resurfaced, the current would have swept them out of the harbor and out towards the ocean. Naruto watched as the two unconscious samurai let the water take them out to sea and couldn't care less if the two of them were never to be found again.

Naruto twitched all of a sudden and clenched the wrist of his right hand. The skin on the front of his hand had been burned from the heat of the curse he used. But a few seconds later, the skin started to heal itself with the help of magical power and the fox sealed inside of him. He soon knelt down and shook Inari's shoulders, urging him to stand up on his feet.

"Inari... that was so brave of you to stand up to them like that..." he started with a soothing voice.

The small child opened his eyes to see the older shinobi hovering over him, but his attention was averted towards a dark figure that stood in front of the front door of the house. Inari froze and paled in horror when he saw the silver plate of a headband shine and pointed a trembling finger at the shinobi.

"N-N-Naruto..."

The genin turned around and was alarmed at the sight of the third and final member of the shinobi triplets he had been encountering throughout this entire mission. He saw this sibling was just as identical to his other two companions, only this one seemed to be a bit older and more experienced due to the number of swords he had strapped to his back. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the triplet was wielding one of the swords that his comrades had on them before the two of them fell off of the cliff. Naruto put the pieces together along with his invisible companion that this shinobi triplet must have found his partners and figured out what happened to them. Naruto saw the shinobi triplet shoot him a wrathful look in his sharp eyes. He felt the man give off a powerful wave of killer-intent while he cracked his knuckles while balling them into fists. He looked like he was seconds from attacking before he spoke to Naruto with a menacing voice that sounded like he was restraining himself.

"My brothers..." he hissed, "The two of them were sent out for a scout mission and never returned to base... The team that was sent out to find them, found their bodies piled up on the shore... One of them lived long enough to tell me what the person that caused their demise looked like... and you seem to fit his description... You killed them..."

"Well, it's not my fault they didn't bring the right map with them and fell off a cliff. Their deaths were their own undoing when they decided to skin me alive." he said back to defend himself and Inari.

The third of the shinobi triplets was set off with that last comment and his eyes sharpened even more while he let out an animalistic hiss. The small child clenching Naruto's trousers leaned in close to him and rubbed his cheek against his weapons pouch. The unnamed shinobi reached for his shuriken while the blonde-haired genin got ready for the storm he felt was coming.

"Naruto..." he heard the smaller child whimper.

The blonde haired shinobi spoke with a stern voice, "Stay close to me, Inari..."

'**_LITTLE ONE! LOOK OUT!_**'

Naruto saw the shinobi disappear for one second before he reappeared and threw both of his arms in a horizontal line. He grabbed Inari as tight as he could and pulled him down just in time before a wave of shuriken zoomed over their heads and flew out towards the sea. Naruto looked up just in time to see the bottom of a foot several inches in front of his face before he saw white and was thrown backward at least fifteen feet. He managed to recover in time but then the battle became heated when the shinobi withdrew one of the bloodstained swords of his partners and used it to slice and slash the air until his blade ran through flesh and fresh blood.

"YOU'RE MINE, KID!" he roared.

Inari was forced to watch as Naruto took out a kunai and blocked most of the attacks before the shinobi let out one strong swing and knocked the kunai out of his hands. The short genin moved fast and jumped several feet backward before he snapped his fingers and aimed at the ravenous shinobi.

He cried out, "_Stupefy!_"

And a blast of red light erupted from his hand and struck the shinobi in the shoulder. His sword fell onto the dock and he was blasted backward a few feet from the power of the spell but it wasn't strong enough to stun him. It didn't do much more than knock him back and numb the nerves in his arms for a few minutes. Naruto realized that the spell didn't work as he intended but he still had to use it to his advantage. He thought back to the chakra-control exercises and the tips that Haku gave him in the forest and decided to use them to his advantage. He focused his chakra despite how stressed he felt and forced it down to his feet. Instead using his chakra to keep his feet stuck to a solid surface he used it to increase his speed. When he took that first step with his chakra boosting him, Naruto was thrust headfirst into a whole new world. It was as if the colors of the world around him were blurred together as he moved at triple his normal speed. He soon focused towards the nameless shinobi and sped at him with another kunai in hand. Inari screamed when the shinobi withdrew a normal kunai and disappeared along with Naruto. When he saw them in focus, their blades had clashed and unleashed a multitude of dazzling sparks that frightened him. The two shinobi disappeared and clashed one more time before the two of them started bouncing off each other with their weapons and created enough sparks to set a field on fire. After one intense minute, due to his lack of experience, Naruto fell into a withdrawal and returned to his normal speed.

The oldest of the triplets took the moment he had and dove beneath Naruto before he made a vertical thrust with his kunai to disarm the child shinobi. Soon after he was disarmed, Naruto had two seconds to act before the shinobi triplet made his move to pull him by the back of his jacket and thrust his blade into his unprotected chest. Naruto managed to reach out and grabbed a hold of the enemies weapon-wielding arm and stopped the man from thrusting the kunai into him. The momentum of the triplet caused both shinobi to fall to the floor of the dock. Naruto began to sweat bullets when the mad shinobi started pushing his blade down towards him and took aim at his heart. The man relished in the moment now that he had the Konoha genin pinned to the wooden floor and felt he could avenge his fallen brethren. The blonde child looked into the small black pupils of his insane adversary and panicked when he started to laugh like the madman he was. He tried holding his arm back with all the strength in his right hand while he used his other hand to reach for a broken piece of the dock to stab the triplet in the face. The tip of the kunai trembled before it penetrated the jacket of his tracksuit and obligated Naruto to abandon the blade of wood the tips of his fingers grazed. He had to use all of the strength in both his arms to keep from being killed.

"GRHHH!" he grunted.

The combined strength of both his arms helped Naruto to keep the man's blade back, but it lasted for just a few seconds before the man used the weight of his body to push the blade towards the chest. The older shinobi parted his lips, revealing his perfect set of razor-sharp teeth and continued to laugh when the blade broke through the cloth on Naruto's black shirt and drew the first drop of delicious blood. The boy let out a roar of desperation as the man started laughing right in his face and almost started carving through the skin with his weapon.

"NO-!" he cried out.

Inari trembled and almost broke down before he stopped and darted his head back and forth. He had to do something before it was too late and decided to do the first idea that popped into his head and he vanished for a few short seconds.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" the Kiri shinobi laughed, "YOU'RE A DEADMAN!"

Naruto panicked and so did his companion as the crazed shinobi managed to cut through enough flesh to stain the front of his orange and blue clothes. The shinobi from Kirigakure no Sato decided to end the show with a classic thrust and lifted up the kunai high above his head before he stopped and a loud thunk was heard. The crazed shinobi then fell to the side with his eyes rolled back into his skull and his headband undone and clattered onto the dock. Naruto looked up and saw the back of the man's head was stained with blood and looked to the other side to see Inari holding a black fire extinguisher with the bottom of the device stained with the blood of a shinobi.

"I... I hit him... I never hit anyone before in my life..." he realized in a surprised voice.

The blonde genin moved from his place on the dock and made his way to Inari who had fallen under the weight of the fire extinguisher and the actions he committed.

He then commented, "That was brilliant!"

Naruto took a moment to breath before he and the smaller child looked over at the unconscious shinobi and rolled him onto his back to check if he was still alive. He pressed his fingers against his neck to feel a pulse and when he did feel that strong pulse of life, the shinobi woke up and sat up before he grabbed Naruto's arm with the strength of three ravenous men.

"YOU-!"

But before the man could make one last attack, the blonde-haired shinobi closed his eyes and used the metal plate of his headband to head-bud the final of the triplets. The shinobi from Kiri was instantly knocked out and fell back onto the dock before Naruto removed his own headband and pressed his hands on his forehead, which he had bruised.

"Oww..." he moaned, "That was a dumb move... that hurt right through my headband..."

Inari made his way over to Naruto and picked up his headband for him while he tended to the large bruise on his face. After a few short minutes, the bruise had healed and the pain eased down enough for him to take his treasure from Inari and wrap it back around his head. Naruto smiled down at the black-haired child and received a wide beam in return while he pushed the unconscious man into the sea. Naruto had flicked his fingers behind his back and used a nonverbal Knockback Jinx to propel the final shinobi sibling out into the ocean with the samurai. The current of the ocean would sweep him out to the far reaches of the eastern lands and seas, assuming that he wouldn't drown in the ocean.

The child looked up to the blonde-haired genin and asked him, "Naruto, how did you know those samurai were coming here?"

"There was a dead boar in the woods and a whole trail of slash marks on the trees that lead to the house. It was obvious that trouble was coming. But I have to say that I didn't expect a shinobi to be coming with those bozos. He must have been the one who brought the boat to take Tsunami." he explained.

Inari turned to his mother and noticed that she was unconscious. The small child became worried and checked her over to make sure that she wasn't dead and asked, "Will she be okay?"

"Your mum will be fine. She must have fainted." he answered with a comforting voice, "But I have something I want to tell you..."

Naruto stood in front of the smaller child and frowned for a second before he spoke again.

"Inari... I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry for what I said the other night... all those names and harsh words... I feel rotten about it..."

He then reached out and patted him on the head before he smiled and ruffled his hair in the same manner that most of his superiors did as a sign of tender affection.

"You're not a coward, Inari... You're a brave young man!" he said with all his heart.

Those kind and honest words pierced the small child's heart like a blade. Inari felt like his insides were melted like wax while he felt the blood rise in his cheeks as tears started building up and pouring out of his eyes. He couldn't explain nor could he understand where these tears were coming from, but he couldn't control it. He sobbed like he did countless times before and desperately rubbed his face clean, but the tears kept flowing down his cheeks like a set of rivers.

"Ohhh... n-no..." he cried, "I... I… promised I w-wouldn't cry ever again...N-now you're g-gonna m-make fun of m-me..."

Naruto spoke up with a calm and sure voice, "Never..."

Inari looked up at the older boy and watched as his eyes turned glassy and distant while he thought back to his own childhood. He could remember being in the same position as Inari back when he was a miserable coward. But then he met Harry and he started to change and find the courage within him to be brave and stand tall. After that he thought back to after those events, when Iruka defended his name in front of Mizuki and when he found out that he was adopted. He had cried rivers of tears, all of them out of joy and happiness. He soon snapped out of his past and looked down at Inari with another warm smile on his face.

"Inari... You don't have to worry about me seeing you like this..." he said with a soft voice, "Because some people need to cry whenever they're happy. There's nothing wrong with that!"

The dark-haired child soon stopped balling but his tears couldn't stop while he looked up and admired Naruto for helping him find his courage and saving his life from further devastation. Inari tried to smile back up at him, but his lips moved against his wishes and he still kept his lips turned in a frown for all the tears.

'_Naruto..._' he thought, '_I wish you were my big brother..._'

The blonde-haired genin ruffled Inari's hair one more time before he looked out towards the construction site. He noticed that a large storm of mist was forming over the shore and obscuring the structure from view. Naruto and Harry remembered seeing a storm just like it when the two of them and the rest of the team first arrived at the Land of Waves on that boat. It meant that their grey-skinned adversary was back and that he was missing out on the fight. For one second, Naruto thought about Haku and the fact that she was probably out on the bridge wearing her mask and kunoichi attire. He figured he would have to fight her and had to be prepared for the unexpected. He still had no idea what to expect for her other than near-flawless chakra control and speed that he wasn't capable of. But even while knowing that and having to come to terms with fighting someone he liked to the death, his friends still needed him.

'_Hold out for me, guys. I'm on my way..._' he thought with determination.

Naruto turned towards the smaller child and asked him, "Inari? Can I count on you to handle things here at the house? Wait for your mother to wake up and tell her what happened."

"Yeah," he answered as he wiped his tears and smiled

The blonde-haired genin nodded and then dashed towards the road that he knew lead to the construction site, "Good, then I'm off to the bridge! You know, sometimes this heroism stuff is a lot of work!"

He heard Inari cheer from behind him but could not see the proud and warm smile on his round face as he punched his fist into the air. Naruto had to concentrate on the destination and think up of a plan to aid his teammates. He soared through the forest as fast as he could and checked his weapons pouch to see if he had the right amount of supplies needed for the offensive. He nodded when he counted the kunai and shuriken but frowned when he realized he had no paper bombs, had one smoke bomb, and had a few inches of wire strings left. When he looked out towards the direction of the construction site, Naruto noticed that the air started to become dense like it was back at the lake on the road. He had just entered the storm of mist and was close to the battlefield.

'_What will we do once we get there?_'

'**_I dunno. How about we jump in and announce ourselves?_**'

'_Good idea if we want to get yelled at by Kaka-sensei._'

'**_Still, we have no idea what that kunoichi friend of yours is capable of... I kept sensing something about that girl. She gave off this strange power. It's hard to describe, but when I looked into her eyes, it felt like I was staring into a blizzard..._**'

'_That's a bit of a philosophical judgment, Nii-san._'

'**_It just makes your female friend all the more interesting, Little one._**'

'_She's not my girlfriend, Nii-san!_'

'**_Heh! I never said that she was._**'

'_S-shut up, Harry!_'

* * *

><p>{{<em>The Chess Game (Film Version) by John Williams<em>}}

Back at the bridge, Kakashi and the others remained cautious as the four of them watched their enemies. The silver-haired jounin placed his hands back into his pockets while his students remained vigilant with weapons in their hands, or in Sakura's case, her hands were at her hips while she tried to look tough in front of the enemies. Tazuna took a breath and watched as the water seeped across his precious creation and showed his reflection. He backed from the water one or two steps in fear before he relaxed and was subjected to another rare conversation between shinobi.

Kakashi soon said, "It looks like I was right."

Sakura looked lost while Tazuna and Sasuke recognized the girl with the mask and realized her connection to Zabuza. It took the pink-haired kunoichi several moments before she remembered the discussion the team had concerning the girl with the mask before she was caught up and started scowling at the superior kunoichi.

"The female in the hunter-nin mask... she was working for Zabuza the entire time," concluded the jounin.

Sakura said with a loud voice, "That _bitch_ has got _some_ nerve to show up here!"

Kakashi sighed at his student's choice of words but was silenced when Sasuke decided to speak with an authoritative voice. He stared at Haku and let his pride and arrogance lead him to one of the deadliest of his life. He wanted to test his capabilities with what he deemed was a suitable rival and teach this kunoichi a lesson that she wouldn't forget about the power of his noble clan.

"This one is mine," he said with a low voice, causing Sakura to blush at her crush and smile, "That was a good performance, but I hate whore actresses. I'm going to rip that mask right off her face."

The pink-haired kunoichi blushed more and cried, "Sasuke-kun is so cool!"

'_Why is it that Sakura is so mean to Naruto when he opens his mouth, and so nice to Sasuke when he says something_ _stupid?_' thought Kakashi as he felt bad for his bumbling student, '_Am I the only person in the world that thinks that's unfair?_'

Sasuke was prepared to start the battle when he gripped his twin kunai and clenched his teeth at the site of the masked girl. Seeing her there at the other end of the battlefield with her mask hiding her face pissed him off as if she lacked the decency to show her true face to the heir of the Uchiha clan. He wanted to rip this kunoichi a new one, but he had to wait until she made the first move. From across the construction site, Zabuza studied the area around the construction site and smirked underneath his mask when he noticed the determined look on Sasuke's face.

"The water is in place." he said as he turned to his partner, "Are you ready for the offensive?"

Haku nodded her head obediently and answered, "Yes."

"Then let's do this." he commanded, "Go."

Without warning, the wind picked up around Haku like at the lake before the pick up let out a sharp whistling sound. She started swirling until her clothes turned transparent and she vanished into a whirl of color and sound. Sasuke twitched in response before he felt the wind in front of him pick up and he thrust his arm up in a defensive stance. Something clashed with the kunai held in his left hand and then Haku reappeared in front of him. The Uchiha twitched again, and saw that his blade was held up against a lone senbon needle. Haku tried to keep the preteen boy at bay while she also tried her best to move her weapon forward. The two of them were at a standstill, pushing their weapons against each other until one of them gave out.

'_What luck,_' thought Zabuza, '_This brat managed to match Haku's speed at the last minute._'

Kakashi stared and watched as Haku and Sasuke pushed off of each other and went in for one more attack. The two of them clashed again and were at another stand still, like before. The water at their feet hissed as the chakra focused on their feet caused the puddles to turn into more mist to make it harder to see through. The jounin then watched as Sasuke didn't seem all that phased by this kunoichi's movements and strength and gave his other student an order once he noticed Zabuza take one step backward either out of caution or that he was going in for the offensive as well.

"Sakura. Keep close to Tazuna. Take that side and keep close. It looks like Sasuke can handle this for a minute." he said.

Haku tried to keep the black-haired genin in one place and gave him an offer, "We want the old man. We don't want to have to kill other shinobi. If you back down, then I won't have to kill you."

"Save it, bitch." he smirked.

The girl frowned behind her mask and said, "You're making a mistake. You have no idea what I'm capable of and you haven't taken the two advantages I have into account."

"What?" he questioned.

The kunoichi answered him, "Take a look around. There is water splashed all around the two of us. Not to mention that I've got you trapped here in front of me with our weapons drawn like this. That leaves you with one hand to defend yourself from this special technique of mine. It's a shame that the shinobi of Konoha haven't uncovered the secret to weave handsigns with one hand yet."

Haku made a sudden move with her right hand and started forming complex handsigns with it. This action took Sasuke and the others by storm when her hand turned into a pale blur and then ended when she stomped her sandaled foot against the concrete and caused all of the water from Zabuza's clones to rise up into the air. Sasuke gasped when he watched the droplets of water levitate before the kunoichi let out a powerful wave of chakra that caused the air around them both to become as cold as winter. The water morphed and reshaped into the form of one thousand needles made of solid ice. Sasuke heard his female teammate scream for his name before he thought about what Naruto told him about using chakra to enhance your strength and took his small lesson into account when he closed his eyes in concentration. A few intense seconds passed for all those shinobi and civilians present before Haku jumped backward and let the ice needles shoot at Sasuke's location and created an explosion of clear water and snow. Haku looked up after she recovered from her retreat and gasped when Sasuke vanished out of existence. But then she looked up and found him up high in the air. He had used his chakra to enhance his escape and leapt up fifty feet into the air and appeared to be floating when he reached the peak of his powerful jump. Haku jumped backward when the Uchiha withdrew several shuriken and threw them at her. She jumped back four times before the preteen landed back on the bridge and vanished under the cover of the mist and snow. When she recovered from her last backward leap, Sasuke had used his chakra to enhance his speed on the same level as her and appeared behind her with his kunai drawn.

"You might want to start looking out for my attacks, now," he said with that same twisted smirk.

Sasuke went in to slam the back of his fist into Haku's masked face, but she was quick and block his whole arm with her own. But then she saw his right hand twitch and she ducked down to avoid a kunai zooming right into her face. But when she ducked down, Sasuke made a quick turn and kicked her right through her mask and slammed his foot to her forehead. The blow ended up throwing her ten feet backward before she landed on her back and slid on the fresh concrete for another three feet. She coughed and recovered while her master looked at his apprentice with a shocked expression frozen on his masked face.

The Uchiha smirked one more time before he said with an arrogant voice, "You might be fast. But I'm faster than you."

'_It's not possible,_' thought the assassin in a panic, '_No one is faster than Haku!_'

Kakashi spoke up and said, "You had that coming for underestimating my students and calling them names. He may not be much on the modest side, but Sasuke here is one of the best rookie fighters this year. There is also Sakura, who our sharpest mind..."

The kunoichi blushed and giggled while her inner persona screamed, '**YEAH! I'M BADASS!**'

The silver-haired jounin then ended his monologue with a proud voice, "And last but not least, no one can forget that the number one unpredictable, hyperactive, knuckle-headed ninja is Naruto Uzumaki."

Soon the mood was killed when Zabuza scoffed and then started to chuckle with a dark and dangerous voice. His laugh threw all of the genin off and even frightened them both as the assassin took a second to breath and then looked to his apprentice. The temperature around the construction site started to feel cold. The air became crisp as if the season changed and Tazuna noticed that frost began to form in his beard and the puddles of water on the floor turned into solid ice. Kakashi looked to Haku and sensed that this entire phenomenon was coming from her and the powerful amount of chakra she let out. Sakura jumped for one second when she heard a loud noise and felt the bridge tremble for one second. It was the sound of a platform of ice that formed in the ocean below them and collided into one of the pillars supporting the bridge.

Zabuza opened his eyes and smiled at the team before he said to his partner, "Let's have some fun, Haku..."

Haku placed her hands together and formed a unique handsign. From the moment she placed her hands together and focused the massive amount of chakra she let out, the freezing water surrounding Sasuke rose up into the air and entrapped him within a large dome comprising of twenty-one perfect floating mirrors made out of solid ice. Twelve of the mirrors remained close to the ground, while eight of them were levitated on the next level and angled so that they were facing the ground. The final mirror was located at the top of the dome and faced the floor of the construction site, where Sasuke was located. The Uchiha heir darted his head in several directions when he became entranced with the spectacular radiance the mirrors gave off. Kakashi panicked when he saw Haku walked towards the closest mirror and propelled herself through the solid ice and become absorbed into it. The Uchiha's head darted towards all of the mirrors when the masked kunoichi started appearing inside all of them until all twenty-one of the solid structures were occupied with Haku's reflection.

"_Hidden Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors!_"

Kakashi thought, '_I've never seen this technique before!_'

The jounin dashed towards his student to prevent whatever the kunoichi had in store but was blocked when Zabuza came out from nowhere and prevented him from assisting in the battle that was coming.

"Let's not forget that I'm still the enemy here..." whispered the assassin, "How about we let the children play while we pick up where we left off?"

Kakashi looked passed Zabuza and watched as Sasuke was mesmerized with the mirrors. For whatever reason, the black-haired genin felt the need to stand there and watch as all of the Haku's reached into their sleeves and withdrew several senbon needles. Sasuke had more than enough time and room to escape the dome of ice but still stood there in the middle of the war-zone.

The jounin instructor furrowed his brow at the scene and balled his hands into fists while he thought, '_Move it, Sasuke! Don't just stand there like an idiot, MOVE IT!_'

Haku threw her arm back and then said with a menacing voice that caused shivers to run down the black-haired preteen's spine.

"Let me show you what true speed really is..."

Sasuke flinched and looked down at his left arm to see that the sleeve of his shirt was torn. A clean cut that run through his clothes and into his skin. Warm blood leaked through the white and blue cloth and ran down his shirt before he felt then same sensation and saw another clean cut. It happened one more time and then he became consumed with a wave of needles shooting out from all directions. Metal needles with tips as sharp as a blade started slicing his skin and cutting him into ribbons. Blood drizzled his skin and stained his clothes as his blue shirt and white pants were torn and ripped with invisible weapons. Sasuke jumped up into the air and protected his face as the speed of the weapons levitated him up into the air several inches. He cried out and the other members of his team panicked when the sound of his voice was heard.

"SASUKE!" shouted the masked jounin

The pink-haired kunoichi screamed, "_SASUKE-KUN!_"

The Uchiha heir screamed and retreated to a fetal position while more and more needles came out of the countless ice mirrors. Small trickles of his blood splashed against the floor of the construction site and even several droplets splattered across the smooth and cold surface of the mirrors. Zabuza made sure to point out that he would kill Tazuna if the jounin dared to interfere with the fight and he answered him with a frustrated and intense glare. Sakura heard her crush's screams and could stand it. She trembled and then hardened her face before she reached out for her own kunai and spoke to Tazuna before she risked the entire mission.

"Tazuna-san. I have to help him. Please keep still for a moment," she said.

But before the old man could protest her actions, she had darted off and ran as fast as she could towards the dome of ice. Kakashi and Zabuza took notice of this and were surprised when she jumped up into the air and held the kunai high above her head. Kakashi ordered her to stop at once but she ignored him and threw the kunai towards the dome.

"Sakura! No!" he shouted.

"Sasuke-kun! Catch!"

The weapon zoomed through the mist at an average speed, but just as it was about to whiz in between two mirrors, Haku came out of one of them and grasped the kunai in her hand. Sakura retreated back to Tazuna as quick as she could before she held her hands to her mouth when she realized that she failed to assist Sasuke. When the needles stopped slicing his skin, he collapsed onto the floor of the bridge and could not bring himself to crawl out of the dome until the pain subsided. The masked kunoichi examined the weapon and fiddled it in her hand before she looked to the ill-tempered black-haired genin.

Just as she was about to toss the weapon into the ocean, she heard a sharp noise and looked to her side at the last second before she saw a shuriken come flying out of nowhere and cutting a thin line through her mask. For whatever reason it happened, she felt like she was slammed in the face with a fist and the force of the blow threw her out of one of her own mirrors. When she stood back up, another shuriken came flying out of the mist and this time noticed there was a wire attached to it with a white smoke bomb tied to the end. Haku was too late to react when the bomb blew up in her face and sent her back against the railing of the bridge and hit the back of her head against the metal rail. The force of the blow caused her concentration of the technique to falter and resulted in a sudden rise in the temperature at the epicenter of the dome. The central mirror on the top of the dome was reverted back into water and splashed on top of Sasuke Uchiha. The black-haired genin was dowsed from head to toe with cold water and he screamed in a chilled surprise.

Haku had to take some time to recover from her blow, but in the meantime, she stretched out her senses in the hopes of detecting the invisible attacker. When she did, it felt like the person should have been located right on the outside of the dome. But no one was there to be seen. Kakashi, Zabuza, Tazuna, Sakura, Sasuke, and Haku were all lost at this turn of events.

"Where did that come from?" asked Zabuza.

Kakashi soon smiled underneath his mask when he recognized the craftsmanship, "Did I mention that Naruto was unpredictable, Zabuza?"

Down below the bridge a few minutes earlier, there was a small blonde shinobi with his hands and feet stuck to the underside of the construction site. Naruto was using his chakra to crawl upside-down like he was one of his favorite superheroes. He used his stretched out senses to detect Haku and Sasuke's locations before he stopped directly below them and removed his hands from the cold metal and concrete. He then reached into his weapons pouch when he heard the sound of his partner's screams and focused his magic into one of his shuriken them before he threw it with all his strength. With the help of his magical powers, the shuriken sliced the cut through Haku's mask and released a fair amount of power upon first contact to simulate a punch to the face. He then reached into his pouch one more time and used what weapons he had at his disposal to force the kunoichi to retreat from Sasuke's location. Harry stretched out his senses once more to see that Haku and a lot of the construction site was covered under a cloud of white smoke.

'**_That's far enough, Little one! Go up there! Go!_**'

Upon his companion's command, Naruto used his chakra training to run towards the northern side of the bridge and make several impressive flips until he reached his destination at the construction site that he never had the chance to visit until now. He did not throw a smoke bomb to announce his arrival but that didn't mean that his entrance was not inspirational or awesome. He looked over to see Sasuke through the smoke and mist, huddled behind the mirrors and could make out the image of Haku, who was still huddled at the rail. He then looked to see Sakura, Tazuna, Kakashi, and Zabuza gathered around their location as he felt their gazes fall upon his outline though the smoke after they heard the sound of his feet touching the floor. Back within the dome of mirrors, Sasuke scoffed at his teammate since it was his fault that the ice mirror above him melted and dowsed him with freezing water.

"That idiot showoff..." he said under his breath.

The blonde genin then said to himself with a smile, "Well! No need for introductions. Where's the trouble?"

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><p>To Be Continued<p>

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><p><strong>Kvsyaoran: GREAT JOB AZEROTH44!<strong>

**Azeroth44: SHUT UP!**

**Cyberman: DELETE! DELETE!**

**LR: Let me try something!**

**(Whips out a sonic screwdriver and presses the button) BRRRRRRR!**

**Cyberman: (Functioning changes and then it leaves for several minutes before coming back with a cake and lit candles)**

**LR: That's better!**

**Cyberman: (._.) Happy Birthday, Master.**

**LR: (^_^) Thanks!**

**Kvsyaoran: (O_O)**

**AZ44: (O_O)**

**Naruto: (O_O) What the hell just happened?**

**Kvsyaoran: Happy belated Birthday, LeafRanger! You are seriously the man! I hope you had a fantastic birthday! ^_^**

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><p>Readers! Be sure to leave behind a review!<p>

Sorry its been taking so long to update, I've been working on a project for Elizabethan Literature. Its been a busy month :P


	10. Crystal Ice Mirrors

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura/Giant Zabuza

'_Blah_': Naruto's thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

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><p><strong>Hello readers. I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long. I have a new project I'm working in my writing class, and its been taking up all my free time to finish. But on the brighter side of things, I've been writing some of the other books in the NIU series and finished the first three chapters of the Legendary Sannin, Book 4!<strong>

**So far, it's good, but I had to bash Kakashi a number of times and I didn't enjoy that much. But I cannot deny that some of the stuff I wrote about him was hilarious. ****I also wrote out some of the future chapters of Book 2 here and I have to say that it's some of the most detailed work I've done, which is needed, given the circumstances.**

**In other news, I have at last watched The Thing prequel on DVD and I thought it was… not good, but it could've been much, much worse (what was up with the 3D-Tetris game on the spaceship?) I also watched the Hunger Games film this week and I enjoyed it. It wasn't as good as the book, but it did a nice job as far as adaptations go. The shaky cameras of the Cornucopia Bloodbath were genius; I had shivers running down my spine during that scene. But I still wish I could've seen a little bit more.**

**In other-other news, Azeroth44 is off doing another project and he couldn't come up with another of our strange commentaries. So I will not be joined with Naruto or Deadpool this time.**

**Naruto: We're not on this time?**

**Kvsyaoran: Not now, man.**

**Anyway, here is the new chapter and I hope that it's good! **

**Be sure to leave behind a review if you like it!**

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><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto**

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling and Warner Bros**

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><p>Chapter 10: Crystal Ice Mirrors<p>

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><p>{{<em>Harry Surrenders by Alexandre Desplat<em>}}

Silence had fallen on the bridge after Naruto Uzumaki deceived Haku and forced her out of the ice dome to rescue his teammate.

The others saw him arrive in his signature orange and blue tracksuit before he turned white and blended into the smoke cover he created. His teammate Sakura smiled when she recognized those familiar colors and even blushed a little bit when her teammate started acting like a real shinobi in front of her. Sakura balled her hands into fists and held them close to her face while she gasped his name under her breath and smiled at him. Tazuna looked surprised but he remained quite after the blonde preteen had vanished into the void. He feared that if he pointed him out then he would have given him away, so he remained quiet but still looked to the foolish child with a little bit more respect than he had given him.

Back with Kakashi and Zabuza, the assassin looked over his shoulder and frowned under his mask when he looked at the irritating blonde child and saw him vanish like he would under a cover of denser mist. He watched his assistant Haku recovering over the rail and then looked back to where he last saw the blonde shinobi.

"So," he growled with an irritated voice, "the number one unpredictable, hyperactive, knuckle-headed ninja joins the fight…"

Kakashi could not believe that one of his most clueless and maladroit students could ever be so clever. But then he shook his head when he remembered the incident with the milkshake bucket and the times he had been surprised or tricked during the bell test. It would seem that Naruto had the art of deception mastered to a level where it could help him in this situation. He was quick to catch up, as would be expected with the arrangement of the teams. Kakashi had to admit that he was impressed now that Naruto was using his natural talents to his advantage, especially when he created a cover of smoke to mask his movements. The smoke mixed with the mist and started obscuring Naruto from view of the others while he sensed his location close to the ice dome. Kakashi still remained vigilant and kept an eye on Zabuza while he trusted his student to be clever enough to work together with Sasuke like he did in the previous confrontation.

'_Work together you two…_ _Don't forget about teamwork…_'

Naruto snuck towards the mirrors with caution and had his invisible companion take a look over the structure for him. From what could be gathered, Haku had the ability to manipulate water to her will and form it into shapes that could aid her advanced ninjutsu. She could freeze and melt water with her chakra and formed these incredible mirrors. Naruto tapped his fingers against the back of the closest mirror and was surprised at how it felt against his skin. It didn't feel like normal ice, where it would be wet upon physical contact. The mirrors were cold to the touch but no water melted off of the surface and wet his fingers. It meant that she must have put an incredible amount of chakra into the water in order to freeze it use it to her advantage. He took a kunai and tried to damage the mirror, but not even a scratch tarnished the perfect smooth surface when it was restored seconds upon the damage was inflicted. Naruto looked around the structure and through the smoke and mist and caught sight of his dark-haired teammate seething at the center of the dome.

Sasuke studied the subtle wounds scattered across his arms, '_These wounds she inflicted… None of them are serious. Absolutely none of them have cut me that deep… it's like this wench isn't even trying to kill me… Is she trying to humiliate me?_'

The Uchiha seethed at the girl he could not see and grit his teeth while Naruto managed to lower the volume of his voice so that it wouldn't be heard through the cover. He had to signal his teammate and get him out of the dome before Haku or Zabuza could arrive. He covered his mouth from the direction of the rest of the team and the enemies to make sure that his voice only carried out to his partner.

"Sasuke," he called with a whisper, "Over here. C'mon."

But the black-haired genin was too furious to hear him, '_That little bitch! She's mocking me!_'

Naruto became concerned and exasperated when the Uchiha did not acknowledge his existence. So he tried to call him once more with a less quiet voice. His companion also became bothered when he could see through the thick cover and could read Sasuke's emotions written all over his face. He was distracted and infuriated with Haku, lost in a train of thought concerning his damaged stature.

"Sasuke," Naruto tried for a third time, "Move it."

The Uchiha heir still did not listen to his concerned teammate as he reached for one of his weapons. He was intent upon attacking Haku once he could see her masked face, but was so focused on her that he didn't hear Naruto raise his voice to him for the fourth time. He swallowed some saliva and gripped his kunai while he stretched out his senses and searched for the location of the kunoichi he was now so determined to hunt down. He wanted to find her and use one of his fire jutsu to teach her a lesson about mocking a member of his clan.

'_That stupid woman… This is what she gets when she messes with the Uchiha-_'

Sasuke was silenced when he heard a loud voice boom from behind him, "MOVE YOUR STUPID ARSE, YOU STUPID TEME!"

Naruto's face had turned red as a tomato and his veins popped out all over his face when his voice boomed and echoed across the entire bridge. Both of his teammates had twitched at the sudden shout and the two masked men on the other side of the white cloud looked towards the direction towards the second-closest mirror when the voice boomed. Kakashi looked concerned and intense when he now knew his student's exact location through his sensitive sense of sound.

'_Naruto can't keep his voice down…_' he cursed through his thoughts, '_Wait,_ _if I know where he is through the smoke then that means-_'

Zabuza's frown turned into a smirk and he withdrew five shuriken from his pouch. The assassin looked towards the location of the ice dome and then smiled with delight when he could hear the child's heartbeat, "So the blonde moron thinks a cover of white smoke can hide him from me…"

"What?" the silver-haired teacher flinched, "No!"

It was too late and Zabuza unleashed his weapons towards the source of the sudden noise. Kakashi was forced to watch as the weapons zoomed into the smoke cloud and then vanished. Back at the ice dome, Harry had sensed the attack and turned his head to his left and Naruto did the exact same movement. The blonde genin heard the voice of his sensei and then he heard the sound of whistles.

"What was that?" he asked.

He heard Kakashi call out, "Naruto! MOVE!"

The blonde preteen turned toward the direction of the weapons but did not see them through the smoke cover. But he still did as his teacher commanded and moved several feet to the right. The shuriken then burst through the smoke cover and one of them sliced into Naruto's left arm. The sleeve of his jacket was shredded out and the curved prongs of the metal stars sliced through the muscle and tissue of his arm. A stream of blood burst out upon contact of the weapon and stained the shredded sleeve of the tracksuit.

"ARGH!" he screamed out before he fell inside of the ice dome.

Kakashi flinched when he heard his student scream in pain and he almost made a break for the ice dome, "No!"

But Zabuza anticipated the masked jounin and blocked his path before he could rescue both of his students. He then looked up when the wind picked up a bit and noticed as the ice dome almost became visible again. When he looked hard enough, Kakashi could see both of his students inside of the dome. He then grunted in aggravation when he looked back at his dark-skinned opponent. For a second the two of them could almost read each other's minds when Kakashi stared at Zabuza angrily and the assassin smirked right through the white bandages of his mask. Kakashi knew that he couldn't rescue Sasuke and Naruto before Haku returned to the battle without risking the life of their old client. If he decided to make one or more shadow clones to be at two places at once, then Zabuza would counter him with water clones. There was enough water still around them to create any number of clones for Zabuza to counteract his rival.

"Just sit back and enjoy the show, Kakashi…" the assassin snickered as he turned toward the ice dome.

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><p>Naruto placed a palm over the wound and waited as his companion worked with the demonic energies to accelerate the healing process.<p>

'_**Your wound is not that bad, Little one. But let's not stick around for more of them. Grab the Uchiha prat and get out of there fast.**_'

The blonde-haired shinobi stood up and ran towards Sasuke as fast as he could run. He then reached out and clenched at the back of his teammate's bloodstained blue t-shirt and forced him back on his feet. Naruto frowned down at him like a furious parent and forced the older teen to follow him.

"RUN!"

Sasuke let his blonde teammate lead him out of the dome, ignoring the pain that pulsed in his arm when the skin was stretched where he had been sliced over and over. The blood almost made his arm as smooth as polished glass, but Naruto managed to keep his grip when he applied his chakra to his hands and pulled his partner toward the exit. Sasuke watched as Naruto approached the gap in between the mirrors but then he forced his teammate to stop when he caught something in his sight.

"STOP!"

Naruto almost slipped through the mirrors when he saw these clear spears of ice erupt out of the edges of the mirrors and trap the two genin inside. The blonde-haired wizard did not dare to touch the spears or even attempt to break them with his kunai. Sasuke pulled him back from the exit and showed him the other gaps inside of the dome and both watched as all the exits were sealed with more ice spears. Naruto looked to the side opposite them and saw Haku through the ice. The mirrors were much thinner than before to compensate the sealed escape routes but looked as strong as ever. Naruto and Sasuke could see right through them, but the wizard inside the mindscape doubted that this would help their alternative means of escape.

"This does not look good," said the blonde shinobi.

Sasuke did not avert his gaze from Haku as he said to his partner, "We're both stuck in here…"

"Those mirrors are made of ice. But I couldn't break them from the outside. Not even a kunai can make a scratch," he answered back.

The Uchiha then retorted with a sharp tongue, "What a shinobi you turned out to be, dobe."

"_Me?_ What are you mad at me for, teme?" the blonde retorted, "_I_ was the one that tried to get you out of this place! _What were you doing?_ Brooding over a couple of needle wounds, I bet!"

Sasuke shouted, "Shut up, Naruto! You should have attacked from the outside!"

"How would that be possible?" he argued back with a shout, "I threw that hunter-nin out of those mirrors so that I can give you enough time to escape! You didn't take the chance and sat there on the floor like some lard-arse emo-kid!"

He shouted back in an almost comic fashion, "I AM NOT AN EMO-KID!"

But before either one of them could continue with their argument, Haku returned. She had approached the dome from the outside and had pressed her hand onto the surface of one of her mirrors. She waited for Naruto to fall into the dome and then used her chakra to manipulate the form of her mirrors. Haku caused the ice in the mirrors to connect and encase the two shinobi inside the dome with the spears. Meanwhile, the two oblivious genin started arguing with each other, their sensei could hear them through the dome and slammed his palm into his face. He had thought that the two of them had started to get along and that this constant battle for dominance over each other was done with. But it would seem that the flames of their rivalry were reignited with a mistake made too soon on Sasuke's part.

Kakashi let out an exasperated sigh, '_It looks like some things never change… But still, we're in trouble… If I intervene to help Naruto and Sasuke, Tazuna and Sakura will become exposed to Zabuza… But if I countered with a shadow clone, then Zabuza would make a water clone to combat that… It wouldn't matter how many clones I make with what chakra I have, he would still match me and we would both be stuck where we are now…_'

Back at the ice dome, Haku slipped her hand deep into the mirror like she did minutes ago and slid inside as if she dove into a swimming pool. She reappeared on the other side of the ice and the two genin she trapped inside turned around and faced her. Sasuke reached for one of his weapons and stared at the kunoichi with the intention to kill her. He blinked but then he heard her voice echo from behind him.

"I'm over here, gentlemen…"

The Uchiha and Naruto looked over their shoulders and spotted Haku behind them inside the opposite mirror. The blonde-haired genin looked back at the mirror she entered and she was gone. Sasuke snapped back at the mirror his teammate was fixated on and clenched his teeth in frustration. He then flipped through a familiar set of handsigns and gathered chakra into his lungs. Naruto looked to his teammate and panicked when his companion's voice echoed in his mind with some bad news.

'_**THAT FOOL! This is an enclosed space! If he uses a fire technique, he'll burn us alive! You have to stop him now!**_'

"Sasuke! Hold on a second!" the blonde shinobi reached out, "The ice won't melt-"

But the Uchiha retorted, "SHUT UP, DOBE! If the mirrors are made of ice then it can melt!"

"It won't work," he tried to reason with him, "I couldn't scratch the outside with a kunai!"

Sasuke still did not listen to his teammate and let his frustration take control. He finished with the last handsign when he clasped his hands together and unleashed his heated breath.

"_Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!_"

"NO!"

The chakra was converted into flames in an instant and then expelled out of Sasuke's mouth with a temperature of over two hundred degrees fahrenheit. The ice dome was heated until the flames almost burned the skin on Naruto and Sasuke's faces. The intense flames of the technique blasted onto the surface of the mirror in front of them and the fires licked the edges of the surrounding mirrors until those structures were obscured with orange and scarlet flames. Naruto had to shield his face with the sleeve of his arm and could feel the orange and blue cloth of his tracksuit singe until it was a shade darker. The dome encased the two shinobi inside of an oven until the flames died down and Sasuke used up his enormous explosion of chakra. Harry furrowed his brow at the Uchiha for his foolishness while the genin observed the results of the jutsu and both their shoulders fell. The ice was not even touched. The surface of the mirrors were just as perfect and untouched as they were upon their creation. Sasuke could not believe that his jutsu failed while Naruto panicked when he looked up and saw Haku begin to appear in almost all of the mirrors around them. The kunoichi behind them removed a senbon from her weapons pouch and struck a pose before the two genin froze and were thrown off their feet. Naruto looked down at his arms and clothes and was horrified to see he was decorated with needle wounds and ruined clothes. Their twin screams echoed against the walls of the dome and managed to escape out and echo across the bridge to their sensei and female teammate. Tazuna and the other two looked towards the dome and flinched at the sound of their screams.

Sasuke moaned with pain while Naruto braved his injuries as best he could and darted his head in all directions. He saw Haku appear inside all of the mirrors all at once as if she had created multiple clones. Naruto decided to test something and threw a series of shuriken at the mirrors and watched as all of them were deflected and fell back down to earth. He sat up and tried to assist Sasuke with getting him to sit up as well. But soon, the clones vanished and Naruto was struck in the shoulder with one of his own shuriken that caused him to hit his back against the ground.

"ARGH!"

Haku looked down at Naruto and Sasuke and spoke to them in a toneless but amused voice, "It's incredible… it's like this jutsu can teleport me across all these mirrors at speeds too fast for either of you to see me… It's like the two of you are moving in slow-motion…"

The kunoichi's voice echoed out of the dome and reached the ears of the others within seconds. Kakashi heard that last detail and his eyes turned wide in surprise but then lowered and intensified when he made an unfortunate realization.

"I knew it… I should have seen that coming…" he said, "If she was able to use a technique to freeze water and control needles made of ice without touching them, then it means she has a kekkei genkai…"

Zabuza smirked under his mask again while Sakura and Tazuna looked perplexed at this news, Sakura then asked, "What does that mean?"

"I thought this girl was supposed to be the sharpest mind," commented Zabuza, "But she doesn't even know what a kekkei genkai is…"

Kakashi answered her for exposition sake, "It's a lot like the Sharingan. You cannot learn it. It has to be inherited in the blood, inside your genetic code, passed down through generation to generation within a clan. I could never copy the same jutsu that kunoichi over there is using with the Sharingan… It would be almost impossible to stop her with that kind of power at her disposal…"

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><p>{{<em>Destiny's Path by John Williams<em>}}

Back inside the dome, Naruto removed the shuriken from his shoulder and tossed it aside. He looked over to Sasuke, who was struggling to keep on his hands and knees. He had more injuries than his teammate and he slipped on the floor once or twice from the fresh blood that oozed out of his wounds. Naruto had never seen so much blood since the incident with the Scroll of Sealing. He smelled salt and iron fresh in the air and almost lost focus for reasons he was unable to understand. But soon, he shook his head and looked down at his own wounds and his own blood before he looked back at his teammate and urged him to stand on his feet.

He placed a firm hand on his rival's shoulder and spoke to him with a stern but comforting voice, "Sasuke… You need to get a grip and stand up… You are not this weak… I need you to stand up and help me…"

"Naruto…" his teammate looked to him.

The blonde shinobi gave him a stern look and told him, "We're not going to lose to her… After all, we both have our dreams and our futures ahead of us… I'm going to be Hokage, so I'm not going to die here… and neither are you…"

Sasuke didn't know what it was in his teammate's words that motivated him to stand. But his words were almost like magic and helped him ignore the wounds that decorated his skin and stand up enough to intimidate the masked kunoichi that looked down at them. Naruto's whispered words were carried into the mirrors and Haku heard him. Her eyes traveled down towards the floor of her crystalline ice world while she reminisced about her past. She remembered the first time she had seen Zabuza and how he motivated her to come with him and find her own dream. She then looked back up at the two shinobi that could now stand tall, as if their wounds were never there.

She said out loud, "Master… He had the same eyes as me when we met…"

Naruto and Sasuke looked at Haku with a curious gaze, but it was Naruto that had some idea what she was talking about. She spoke to the boys with a sad but serious tone while her facial expression was unreadable if it weren't for her porcelain mask.

"I didn't want to become a shinobi… Believe me, it's difficult to be one… I don't want to have to kill either one of you… But if either of you advances to attack me or escape to stop Zabuza, then I will have to do what I must and kill the kindness in my heart and become a true shinobi. To strike without mercy or hesitation…"

Haku's words traveled out of the dome and flowed across the bridge like a sound wave and reached the ears of the others in the mist.

"This bridge will be the battlefield where our dreams and futures collide… Now I must fight for my dream as you fight for yours…I want to protect someone that is precious to me… To work for that person… To fight for that person… To make that man's dreams come true… That is what I want and what I will die for… If I want to become a true shinobi and fulfill that wish, then I will kill both of you…"

Naruto gave her a saddened frown when he thought about the girl from the forest he talked to, while his teammate smirked at her with the same intentions he had before. Back outside the dome, Zabuza had frozen in place when he heard his assistant's words, but soon threw off what he felt for one second and faced Kakashi like he did minutes ago. Sakura looked nervous and darted her eyes between the dome and her instructor. She trembled at those words that were carried across the bridge before it all piled on and she cupped her hands around to mouth the increase the volume of her voice.

"Sasuke-kun! Naruto-baka!" she shouted, "Don't lose to her! You can win this!"

Kakashi snapped at his female student, "Sakura! Keep quiet!"

"What? But it will help motivate them," she argued, "I thought teamwork would help them here!"

The jounin told her back, "Even if the two of them are able to penetrate the dome, it could be impossible to defeat that kunoichi."

"What?" she outraged.

Kakashi explained to her, "Sasuke and Naruto don't have the strength to kill their hearts and take a human life… Zabuza trained that girl himself and she knows what it takes to be a shinobi…"

"Bahahahahahaha! True shinobi cannot live in peace like in Konohagakure," the assassin mocked, "Your rookies do not live the same as we did in Kirigakure… None of them learn how to kill their own hearts and strike down their opponents and kill them without mercy or emotional regret… Those students back there are weak and will die without the true intention to kill…"

Sakura felt a chill run down her spine and could feel Zabuza unleash a wave of his own chakra, "Kakashi-sensei! What can we do?"

The masked instructor remained frozen while he ran a hundred scenarios through his head at once. He couldn't make a break for it and save Naruto and Sasuke without leaving Tazuna out in the open. Sakura was incapable of even standing a chance against one of the Demon Brothers, let alone Zabuza. She served more as a spectator or another person to protect along with their client. So Kakashi was left with no other choice but to end his battle with Zabuza in the most convenient method possible. His left hand twitched and then shot to his headband. His other hand was crossed with his left in a defensive position while he spoke to his kunoichi student with a calm and sure voice.

"Keep close to Tazuna and stay out of the way…."

Zabuza smirked underneath his mask and said, "You're no fun… The same cheap Sharingan trick as before…"

"The Sharingan," gasped Sakura, "He'll win for sure!"

But then she frowned and Kakashi flinched when Zabuza made his move and pulled out a kunai that was curved inward on one side. He moved at speeds too fast for Sakura or Tazuna to see and when he was in clear sight again, Kakashi had blocked the attack using the palm of his right hand. Zabuza intended to stab his opponent in the face, but the blade went no further than the flesh and bone of Kakashi right hand and middle finger. The jounin's expression turned livid and fearsome while he willed the pain out of his system and focused on the battle. The tip of the blade poked out of the back of his hand and exposed muscle and bone that would have made another man sick to their stomach. But Kakashi vented out the intense pain through his strained voice when he spoke to Zabuza with a voice that made the others shiver in fear.

"If it's such a cheap trick, then why did you try to stop me?" he asked with an intense voice.

Zabuza smiled and narrowed his eyes, "You're ultimate fail-safe… it's not something you should have to show your opponent over and over… Otherwise, he and his assistant can do some research and learn to use it against you…"

"You should feel honored, Zabuza… You're the only man alive that has seen my Sharingan twice… But there won't be a third time…"

The assassin chuckled in amusement and then started to sing his own praises, "Even if you could defeat me, you wouldn't stand a chance against Haku… When I found her, she was a penniless toddler without a home or food in her stomach. But I took her in and trained her in the most advanced and merciless methods possible. And she never disappointed me. Even in the face of the unthinkable, she was calm and emerged victorious… She has lost all regard for her own life and was transformed into the ultimate killing machine… A true shinobi, whose skills now surpass even my own… Not to mention she has that impressive and unbeatable bloodline trait at her disposal… In the end, I have developed the most perfect weapon capable of the ultimate destruction… What do you think, Kakashi?"

"I think you should shut the hell up," he answered while Zabuza removed the kunai and he revealed his Sharingan, "Because I'm falling asleep… Let's finish this!"

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><p>{{<em>Borgin &amp; Burkes by John Williams<em>}}

Back inside the ice dome, Naruto and Sasuke were standing up with blood running down their limbs and cheeks. The two of them looked up at the masked kunoichi before her reflection appeared inside all of the mirrors and the two of them were bombarded with another painful wave of metal needles. Naruto was thrown off his feet while Sasuke levitated several inches from the earth before he fell into a heap. Naruto joined him on the floor before he pressed his hands together and formed his signature handsign.

"Believe it or not, but I have an idea!" he grumbled before he focused his chakra, "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_"

Sasuke shouted back, "No! DON'T!"

At least ten shadow clones appeared with individual clouds of white smoke. But instead of attacking the mirrors as Sasuke expected Naruto to do with his clones, the multiple copies formed a dome around him and his real teammate. Haku was confused at the sudden move and waited for an attack. The other copies of her vanished and left her alone while she waited with untold patience. With the clones keeping the two shinobi protected, Naruto huddled close to Sasuke and spoke to him with a quieted voice.

"It's a shield! Just stick close to me!"

Sasuke had to admit that this new move on his teammate's part impressed him. From his knowledge, Naruto was clever when it came to pranks and tricks, but did not have the talent to use his natural gifts as weapons at a shinobi's disposal. He still nodded to his teammate and sat up so that the two of them could work together and come up with a plan. While Sasuke mulled over the possibilities, Naruto focused inward and let his eyes turned a dull shade of blue to show that he was communicating to his companion.

'_I'd love to hear what you've got to say, Nii-san. We need to find a way out of this place but we're trapped._'

'_**I noticed this earlier when that idiot Uchiha almost incinerated the inside of the dome. The heat of that jutsu should have burned us to a crisp. That means that most of the heat was either absorbed or it escaped… But it didn't look like the mirrors can absorb blows, like when you scratched the outside. It might have drawn the mist around the environment to restore itself… Then that would mean that the heat escaped the dome through… There! Up above you!**_'

{{_The Flying Keys by John Williams_}}

Naruto looked through his shadow clones and looked up towards to the top of the dome to see the last mirror suspended up in the air without ice spread out to entrap him and Sasuke. He felt his older brother focus energies into his eyes so that he could see the details around the mirror. He observed that the ice around the top mirror and discovered that the ice was unable to reach the top and left the gap. Naruto needed to test to see if the ice was unable to seal the dome and commanded one of his clones to withdraw a shuriken to force Haku or the ice to react.

"Take this!"

The shadow clone tossed the shuriken and the others watched as the metal star zoomed through the cold air and out into the summer atmosphere and into the sea. Harry made a couple of more close observations and could see the ice draw in more moisture from the mist and form more ice to complete the dome. He was able to deduce that it would take a while to complete the technique, more than enough time for Naruto and Sasuke to make a successful escape. The blonde shinobi tapped his teammate's shoulder and pointed up at the ceiling of the dome.

"Sasuke, look," he whispered while he still maintained his foolish mask, "There's one more exit! Right above us! I don't think she can spread the ice up there."

The Uchiha looked up and through the shadow clones to make his own observation and looked rejuvenated. He studied the details of the ice mirrors and observed the ice that sealed them into the solid structure.

He then thought with determination, '_Naruto is right! She doesn't have enough ice to encase us in a perfect dome without the risk of weakening the mirrors! If we can avoid the oncoming attacks, then the two of us can escape! We just need to find a way to move around her speed and get up there._'

"Listen to me, dobe," he said with a whispered voice, "How talented are you with the Henge no Jutsu?"

Naruto answered his teammate; "Iruka-sensei said that I was one of the best in our class once. It's one of the best techniques I can do."

"That's good enough for me," he said back, "Now listen up."

Haku watched as the two shinobi remained hidden underneath the cover of shadow clones. She was tempted to attack them and remove the shadow clones, but it wasn't in her nature to attack unless provoked or when Zabuza told her to attack. She wanted to wait and watch what Naruto had intended with these clones. She still readied her weapons and remained as still as a statue until she noticed a shuffle inside the pile of clones. The pile increased in size from the inside and the clone-shield exploded into dense white smoke.

"LET'S GO!"

Without a warning, a shower of more shadow clones erupted out of the smoke and shot out in all directions. Multiple copies of both Naruto and Sasuke came shooting out like bullets and bounced off of the surface of the ice mirrors. The Naruto-clones were wielding kunai while the Sasuke-clones drew out shuriken. The weapon-wielding shadow clones attacked the mirrors in combination of leaping off their surfaces and provided mid-air platforms for other shadow clones to use them to soar higher into the air. The multiple copies of Naruto and Sasuke rose up towards the ceiling in a spiral pattern to avoid being struck with more needles. Meanwhile, the real Naruto and Sasuke coupled with the clones to blend in and soared up towards the exit. Haku darted her masked faced at all of the clones and couldn't distinguish the real enemies from the fakes. She was tricked with a simple but elaborate plan and frowned while she observed the movements of the clones in slow-motion vision. She took the time to notice that most of the clones of Sasuke moved and contracted their muscles in the same fashion that Naruto did. The kunoichi searched and studied the clones until she caught a difference in their movements and came upon one of the Sasuke-clones that moved and flexed his muscles in his own unique pattern. That was the real Sasuke Uchiha and the others were disguised shadow clones that stemmed from Naruto. The real Sasuke and the real Naruto were close to the top of the dome and the two of them smiled when the fresh smell of the outside world reached their nostrils. But then Haku's reflection appeared inside all of the mirrors and the two genin frowned seconds after the two of them bounced off of another two clones. Naruto looked down at his legs and turned white when he saw seven metal needles pierced inside of them until all of the senbon were buried several inches into his skin. His teammate looked down as well and noticed a fraction of a dark blur move around the inside of the dome. But then he gasped when all of the shadow clones exploded into white smoke and felt the cold metal needles become imbedded into his arms, legs, and back. The two shinobi let out their own individual shouts of pain before their bodies fell down and collapsed onto the unforgiving concrete.

Sasuke let out a roar of pain when he looked down at his shins and felt the bone and muscle that was stabbed scrape against the metal needles. He tried to pull out the weapons, but he couldn't remove more than the first five and let alone the needles in his arms and back. He looked over at his teammate and he looked even worse than he felt. Haku had used more needles on him and scratches decorated his skin until he looked like he was half-dipped in a pool of his own blood. Naruto was able to move around while Harry worked hard to ease the intense pain with some surfaced magical power. Sasuke panted and looked up at the mirror above him. Haku was there with a frown hidden under her mask and struck another pose with the clean ends of her bloodstained needles in between her fingers.

"This is but the beginning of our battle…"

* * *

><p>Back with Kakashi and Zabuza, the two men were in conversation about how the latter was tricked with the illusion the former created at the lake. Zabuza relished and boasted about how he and Haku worked together and learned to move around Kakashi's secret weapon while he focused more and more chakra to radiate out of him in waves. The silver-haired man watched as Zabuza raised two of his fingers close to his face and let his chakra flow. The mist around them intensified and the railings of the bridge and the dome of ice disappeared into a massive cloud of dense fog that covered the entire structure.<p>

"_Water Style: Hidden Mist Jutsu…_" he whispered and then he vanished out of thin air.

Sakura twitched and panicked when her teacher was almost invisible. Kakashi couldn't believe the amount of mist there was all around them. It was like Zabuza wanted to become lost inside his own technique. Sakura reached out towards her teacher and then broke the silence with a call, "Sensei!"

"Keep close to Tazuna!" the instructor ordered his student before he dashed into the mist, "I'll be back!"

The pink-haired rookie clenched her fist and ran over towards their client with a kunai held tight in her hand. She looked back towards where she saw the ice dome and thought about her crush without a second turbulent thought, '_I just have to keep faith in Sasuke-kun and it will be alright!_'

"Follow me, Tazuna-san!" she said, "I'll do whatever I have to in order to protect you!"

The bridge builder admitted, "I'll be honest, that doesn't make me feel better…"

"_Well who asked if it did?_" she screamed back at him, "You stupid old man! Trust me!"

* * *

><p>Kakashi stormed through the mist but made sure he didn't steer far from where Tazuna and Sakura were located. He looked up at the skies and couldn't believe how dense this mist was. It was too thick for even Zabuza to navigate through. He looked down at his wounded hand and watched as more droplets of crimson blood dribbled down and splattered onto the concrete. Kakashi took one second to tend to his hand and wrapped it with some white bandages from his weapons pouch. He looked over his shoulders and checked the area around him in case Zabuza tried to attack him. Knowing people like him throughout his career, Kakashi expected him to attack soon, for gruesome fun. Once he tightened the wrappings around his palm, Kakashi withdrew a kunai when he heard the sound of whistles. He took his kunai and slashed it through the air at speeds so fast and swift that his arm blurred into a dark mass and over twelve sparks and clangs erupted in the air when he deflected the shuriken bombardment.<p>

"Nice reflexes… As would be expected from Kakashi Hatake…"

The masked jounin flinched at the sound of the menace's voice behind him and turned around at once. There was Zabuza, but he did not attack him. He appeared as if he were made of stone and his eyes were closed in concentration. The assassin appeared to be focused and prepared to attack Kakashi right there on the spot but he chose not to and remained where he was.

'_What is he doing?_' the confused shinobi asked, '_He cannot see…_'

Zabuza chuckled with a sinister voice, "**This is a sneak peak… But the next time you see me will be the last…**"

The assassin blended back into the void, but his voice still echoed around the Konoha shinobi, "**You've overestimated the Sharingan…**"

Kakashi twitched at that statement and Zabuza continued, "**After the battle on the lake, Haku and I went to work and figured out a flaw in the design of the Sharingan… We now know that it got inside my mind and made me believe that you could anticipate my actions, thoughts, and even see into the future… It's a complete joke… All you did was hypnotize me down to the point where you almost controlled me… Once I had enough time to make a plan, I created the perfect scenario and waited until you and this pathetic entourage arrived here and trapped you inside the perfect environment where your Sharingan is rendered useless…**"

Kakashi tried to see through the mist and wait for an attack, but was taken aback when a foot came out of the void. The masked shinobi used his forearm to block the blow and was pushed back fifteen feet. He slid down the concrete, thrust his kunai into the ground to slow his speed, and then screeched to a halt. Zabuza was waiting for him to get close and made a horizontal slice at him. But Kakashi managed to push off from the floor and made an incredible acrobatic flip that would have caused Naruto to squeal and make a connection to one of his comic books. Kakashi readied his kunai and clashed with Zabuza one more time before the two of them pushed back and disappeared from sight. Kakashi waited for another attack and he received a few more cuts and blows to the chest and back when Zabuza decided to mess with him and his blindness in the mist.

"Damn… This mist is too thick… But it's curious that you closed your eyes..."

"**It's worth it… Your Sharingan cannot penetrate the mist and with my eyes shut it cannot hypnotize me like last time…**"

"That's a brilliant plan! Except the part where you're just as blind as me!"

"**You're forgetting who I am, Kakashi… I've been trained in the art of the silent-kill… I can assassinate whoever I want with the sense of sound alone…**"

Kakashi flinched at the fact and tried to remain calm. It had been a while ever since he had to battle in these harsh conditions. He tried to remain calm and closed both his eyes in order to concentrate. He couldn't help but think back to Naruto and Sasuke, but he had no choice but to set his worries aside and think about what Zabuza would do if he were in his place. Kakashi assessed the situation and reminisced about his own time when he was a member of the ANBU. Back then he would have lured his own opponent into a trap like this and then use the time he had to forget about his opponent for a while and then finish the job he was tasked with while the opposing shinobi was lost in the trap. He applied this method to Zabuza and tried to figure out whom he would target next.

The masked shinobi opened his eyes and looked back towards his original location and then panicked, "NO!"

Sakura and Tazuna were looking in the direction of the ice dome while the two of them tried to keep a look out for the man with the sword. The old man sweat out torrents while the pink-haired kunoichi tried to look brave and in control of the situation. But behind the pair of them, Zabuza materialized out of thin air and didn't make a sound while he seemed to zoom towards them like a solid ghost. It wasn't until his foot hit the ground and his right arm reached back and grasped the handle of his massive blade did the two of them hear him approach. Sakura was the first to pick up the noise and looked back with a loud and frightful gasp. Tazuna joined her and his face flushed when he met the eyes of the man he had been afraid of for over a week. What happened next was too fast for Sakura and Tazuna to see and it wouldn't be until blood was splattered onto the concrete would either one of them realize what had happened. Kakashi had come out of nowhere and stood in front of their client with his arms spread out like wings when Zabuza grasped his sword with both his hands and made a diagonal slash into a wall of solid flesh, which was then followed with a high-pitched scream.

"**TOO LATE!**"

"**AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!**"

* * *

><p>{{<em>The Chess Game by John Williams<em>}}

The two male shinobi that were still trapped inside the ice dome struggled with the minutes that followed their earlier defeat. Haku struck them with more senbon whenever either one of them moved. When Naruto tried to place his hands together and form the seal that enabled him to create more shadow clones, a needle came out of one of the mirrors and pierced his arm. He felt the bones in his arms become stabbed and the pain that came with it was some of the worst. He had never broken an arm, but he couldn't imagine how it could be much worse than this. Sasuke tried to reach for his weapons pouch, but soon Haku launched it off of his person and threw more weapons in between him and the pouch to send him a message.

"DAMN!" he shouted.

When she did that, Naruto made an attempt to create another clone-shield when he rolled on his side and placed his hands together while he faced the concrete.

He screamed out, "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_"

The clones that popped into existence stood around the real Naruto and even Sasuke to give them some time to communicate and formulate another plan to escape. The two of them didn't have enough time when Haku attacked them with another massive attack and sent them both up into the air for a few seconds of intense pain and then let them down with a cease-fire. Naruto tried the same technique one more time but Haku managed to shoot a senbon into his shoulder before the shadow clones could take the blow instead and exploded when Naruto was stabbed with the needle. Sasuke was given enough time to stand up and looked around the dome when Haku attacked his teammate. He could have sworn that he saw the same dark blur like he did before when the two of them fell down from the top of the dome. He could feel a strange strain on his eyes when he focused on that blur, but the more he did it, the more clear the blur turned out to be and looked more like Haku. Meanwhile, the environment around him seemed to turn a shade darker, as if the sun had fallen down and made his vision more clear and focused.

He looked down at his fallen teammate and shouted when he took a step forward, "Naruto! I think she's reaching her limit with this technique! I think I can see her now! I need-"

Sasuke never finished his sentence when Haku came out of nowhere and threw a senbon at him. The needle flew right through the back of his leg and burst out of his left kneecap. He froze in mid-air and fell down onto the bloodied floor and clenched his knee before he let out a terrible scream when he looked down at his knee.

"OHHH! AHHH!"

Naruto looked over at his teammate and looked back at Haku with a frustrated look on his scratched-up cheeks. He tried to stand up and attack the mirrors out of blind frustration but the kunoichi came out of the mirrors and attacked him behind. She threw a dozen senbon into his back but none of them went in too deep, but it was more than enough to cause him to collapse and let out another shout of pain that echoed through the dome and caused his ears to start ringing.

"ARGH!"

Sasuke tried to move despite his kneecap being pierced through before he slumped back down due to a loss of balance and concentration. His partner looked to him and then looked back Haku in the mirror in front of him and focused magic into his arm to charge a charm he felt could give him some time. He felt the warm energies surge through his arm and then heat up the tips of his fingers until it hurt. He saw Haku strike another attack-pose and then used the one spell he felt could help protect him and his teammate while his forehead was rested on the bloodstained floor.

He cried out, "_Protego!_"

Haku launched the senbon and Naruto unleashed a wave of plasma-like energies and watched as the needle impacted the shield. He and the kunoichi froze when the needle traveled through the shield and stretched it out like it was an elastic rubber band. But just as Naruto was about to relax for a fraction of a second, the needle burst through the shield and struck Naruto in the shoulder. He let out another scream and his back hit the ground before he pulled out the needle and tossed it against the closest mirror.

"This is impossible," he panted, "I… can't… move…"

Naruto closed his eyes while Haku stared at him with a look of surprise hidden underneath a porcelain shell. She had seen the charm and couldn't recognize or associate it with a form of ninjutsu that her master taught her.

She thought, '_What was that? It looked like some kind of plasma. Could he have a kekkei genkai, too?_'

But as she took the time to stare at the male she took such an interest in, Sasuke looked over at her with a determined look that so few people ever witnessed. He followed Haku and observed all of her movements inside the ice. She noticed that she was followed and looked back at Sasuke before she switched positions. To her amazement, her attention was driven from the boy she had dreamed of for days to the one that was able to follow her movements. Sasuke's pupils dilated for one second and then adjusted a fraction of a second later.

'_No… He couldn't be… There's no human alive that can read my movements… It must be a coincidence…_'

Sasuke continued to follow Haku when she switched from one mirror to the next one. He was slow, but he could still pick up where she would be next and be one second late. She was confused and worried whether or not the Uchiha could pick her up on his own, or if she was tired and had depleted chakra. Haku didn't feel tired at all but she didn't like the idea that the one with the black hair was standing and that he followed her like a natural predator. She appeared through all the mirrors at once and attacked. But the second before she threw a needle to strike Sasuke's chest, he dodged the attack and took Naruto with him. The needle grazed his chest and tore his shirt to turn it into a v-neck. When he recovered and glared at the kunoichi, she gasped out loud and discovered that Sasuke had activated his Sharingan at last. His eyes were now a shade of deep crimson and two pitch-black tomoe encircled his right pupil while one tomoe swirled around his left pupil.

'_It can't be!_' she panicked, '_Those are Sharingan… He must have a bloodline trait like me… But he awakened it in the heat of battle… He might have a bad attitude, but his abilities are incredible in combination with this bloodline trait… But that aside I have to end this before he can use the Sharingan to aid him in the battle… I have to end him!_'

Naruto looked up at his teammate and froze when he saw the change and witnessed his Sharingan awaken. He was amazed and meant to make a comment but then the pain of his injuries hit him and he fell back down onto the concrete while his teammate looked up at Haku and looked into a world unlike the one he could see with his normal vision. The whole world around him seemed to turn dark and his vision made it so that he could see Haku and Naruto as if the world decided to slow down a little to take in their movements. He could track down the kunoichi without trouble and looked to the next mirror she was about to zoom into. Sasuke followed her with his perfect vision and was amazed with what he could see and anticipate. It wasn't a complete set of Sharingan and the lack of tomoe swirling around his pupils made a difference in what he could see but what he had at the moment was enough to turn the tide in the battle.

Haku disappeared as she had done countless times and threw a senbon at the Uchiha. But he focused chakra into his feet and was able to dodge in time and focus back on Haku when she vanished one more time and appeared in the mirror to his left. He glared at her and she looked at him through the slits of her porcelain mask, she removed a bundle of more senbon and placed them in between her pale and cold fingers. She was determined to end the battle now that Sasuke had obtained his Sharingan.

'_If I let this fight continue, he'll keep anticipating my movements and I'll be worn down while this jutsu is still maintained… I have to end this before his Sharingan can improve and prevent me from leaving the ice… It would be foolish if I attacked him directly…_' she stopped and looked over at Naruto and thought, '_But if I use Naruto-kun as bait… then I can strike down the one with those hateful Sharingan eyes… There's something about him… it just feels wrong… I have to put an end to this now, while there's still time…_'

The masked kunoichi struck one more elegant pose and then burst out of the mirror with so much force and speed that the mirror she escaped form seemed to burst as if the ice had melted and was converted back into water for a short amount of time. Sasuke prepared for the attack he expected, but then his shoulders dropped when she flew out towards his teammate that was over seven feet away from him.

"IT'S TIME TO BRING THIS TO AN END!" she shouted.

Sasuke's crimson Sharingan widened when she zoomed at his teammate and his heart almost skipped a beat inside his chest. He felt a force inside him give him the drive to move at impossible speeds and blurred towards his defenseless partner.

He thought in his surprise, '_She's going to attack Naruto?_'

Sasuke Uchiha turned into a dark blur of blue, black, and white while he adopted a wild and desperate expression on his bloodied pale-skinned face. His teeth were bared and clenched together while his legs pumped acid through his torn and used-up muscles. The pain to be the first one to reach the oblivious blonde preteen was intense. But it would be nothing compared to what would happen once he reached him and intercepted Haku when she reeled her arms back and prepared to slice and stab with her indestructible senbon needles.

"NO! I HAVE TO GET THERE FIRST!"

* * *

><p>Blood splattered across the surface of the concrete while Kakashi heaved for a second and clenched his chest with one hand while he held a kunai in the other. Zabuza had slashed him across the chest with his Kubikiribōchō and left behind a deep cut that ran through his sculpted washboard muscles and almost scratched several of his ribs. The masked man braved the pain, but the noises he made to ease the intense burning caused Tazuna and Sakura to pale in addition to the sight of his blood dripping down from his front.<p>

"Kakashi-sensei!" he heard Sakura shout from behind him.

Zabuza smiled and furrowed his hairless eyebrows, "That's a little too slow, Kakashi. You're desire to protect those two brats in the ice chamber has clouded you more than the mist that hinders the Sharingan… You're eyes are sharp, but not sharp enough to read my movements… But c'mon! Crack a smile! I want this to be fun while it lasts… But back to the worthless genin back there, the two of them should be at their last breath…. I'm sure you'll be able to weep out an apology to those idiots when you see them in the afterlife…"

Kakashi breathed as calmly as he could and snarled at the assassin underneath his mask, meanwhile Sakura and Tazuna remained frozen. Zabuza soon started to mock Kakashi and laughed like a maniacal menace while he blended back into his natural environment. Sakura seemed to turn another shade paler when she looked back to the direction of Sasuke and Naruto as a couple of tears began to well up in her eyes. She balled her hands into fists and held them close to her face while she tried her best to ignore Zabuza's mad blood-boiling cackle.

"No! I won't believe that!" she shouted like a scared child, "Sasuke-kun won't be defeated by that tramp! Neither will that baka Naruto!"

The jounin in front of her replied and earned her and Tazuna's attention, "You're right… I… I believe in their abilities… I have faith in them… Naruto Uzumaki is the most unpredictable shinobi that I have ever met… And Sasuke is the heir to the most illustrious clan in Konohagakure…."

"Wait a minute…" the assassin stopped moving around, "That doesn't mean that he's…"

Kakashi interrupted him, "His full name is Sasuke Uchiha of the Uchiha clan…"

"So… that's how he was able to develop in such a short amount of time… He's the survivor the massacre I heard about… I knew that one person survived the incident… but I wouldn't have guessed that it was Sasuke… For all I know, he could be an equal to Haku… but that title won't help his chances with her… No one has ever been able to penetrate her ultimate technique… Not even me…"

With that said, he vanished back into the mist. Kakashi was now determined to finish this monster and will the pain out of his severe slash to the chest. He evened his breath and did not turn his head when he spoke to his remaining student behind him.

"Sakura, don't move an inch," he ordered roughly, "I'll finish this as fast as I can."

* * *

><p>Naruto felt the pain pulse all over him from the wounds that decorated his skin. But soon his invisible companion focused his magic to heal his skin and the pain began to fade. He soon found the strength to use his hands and push off from the earth to look up. His vision was still as blurred as ever, but he could still see to a degree where he noticed Haku was in a heap and his teammate was standing tall in front of him. Naruto smiled at the new sight and almost laughed when it seemed that Haku was unconscious.<p>

He soon listened as he heard Sasuke speak to him, "You always get in the way, dobe…"

"Sasuke!" he started to cheer, "You-"

But then he stopped when he looked up and examined his teammate. The blonde shinobi watched as a massive amount of blood dropped down from his teammate's mouth and then splattered onto the floor like vomit. Small droplets of crimson touched Naruto's face and left him speechless while he froze like a statue. He watched in unspeakable horror when he realized his teammate had stood in the path of an attack intended for him and Harry. Sasuke had over sixteen senbon lodged into his chest, neck, arms, and legs. Blood oozed out of his torso in torrents and dripped onto the concrete to form a puddle around his feet and stain the bottoms of his sandals. The Uchiha looked back at his teammate in an attempt to smirk at him but failed when he almost couldn't turn his head from the senbon stuck in his neck. Naruto shook his head in denial and his face turned pale while the world around him seemed to turn cold, like he had dove into the ocean. Sasuke tried to speak again, but this time his voice sounded like it had been drowned with his own blood.

"What's... with… the look on your stupid face, dobe…?" he asked, "It looks so stupid…"

{{_Farewell to Dobby by Alexandre Desplat_}}

The blonde shinobi shook his head and tried to wake up from this nightmare while he asked, "Why did you do that?"

Sasuke looked back at the mirror above him and saw the mixed look on his teammate's face. He felt he must have hallucinated at this point, because he could have sworn that he could see all of the times he and Naruto had been on the same team in the crystal ice reflections. He looked up and could see back into his past to reflect upon the time the two of them had spent with each other whilst the two of them were either fighting or even having fun during their races and training. The heir to the Uchiha clan looked back at the times he and his odd teammate set aside their differences and almost acted like friends. It had been a short amount of time, but it enough to make this moment all the more difficult for the both of them.

"WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO THAT?" he heard his teammate scream.

Sasuke soon snapped out of his flashbacks and admitted in defeat, "I used to hate you back then…"

"H-how could you be so stupid and do this?" his teammate asked in much calmer voice.

"I like I would know," he answered with an almost-lie, "I didn't move on my own… It was the Sharingan… dobe…"

The Uchiha felt his legs give out and he started to fall down on his back. But Naruto was there when he caught in time and held him in his arms. He was wet with blood and water and his skin turned as cold as ice. It almost seemed like all the blood inside him was leaked out into the mess that was made the floor. Naruto held him close and tried to keep him warm while he watched the life in his obsidian eyes fade a little more as time slipped through their fingers. He knew he did not have the resources he needed to help him in the weapons pouch, and that the Wiggenweld potion was in his beaded backpack back at the house. Sasuke would be dead in a number of moments and so his partner did whatever instinct told him to do and kept the deformed form of his teammate close until it was over. Naruto's heart tore to shreds when Sasuke made a noise he never thought he would hear. He started to let out small gurgling noises as one or two tears ran down his cheeks to clean the blood from his face. The blonde shinobi had never seen him look so vulnerable. The sight alone caused him to tear up and he almost cried when Sasuke spoke to him with a much softer voice.

"I've never felt so cold before..." he choked.

Naruto tried to convince them both that he would be fine, "Sasuke… Cut it out…You're fine…"

"He's still out there…" he interrupted while Naruto looked down at him and the blood that stream out the corners of his mouth, "Itachi is still out there and I swore I would never die until I killed him…"

The blonde shinobi tried it again, "Please, don't…"

"Naruto…" the Uchiha then said with some of his last breaths of his life, "Don't die here… Don't let your dream die…"

Silence had fallen once again as Sasuke Uchiha collapsed in Naruto Uzumaki's arms and remained still as stone. His breath had stopped and his heartbeat was now non-existent. His skin was like ice and the blood stopped flowing through his veins and out into the puddle that surround them both. The blonde wizard could not stop looking down at his deceased comrade as he felt tears run down his face and the wounds on his cheeks healed at speeds faster than normal. Naruto reached out and ran his trembling hand down on his teammate's eyes to close them and make it seem as if he were asleep. He never thought he would have to go through a loss so soon into his shinobi career. It almost felt as bad as when he found out how his mother had died. But this time it was more potent and the negative emotions that swirled inside his broken heart made it so unbearable to the point where he felt like his chest was set on fire.

While Naruto mourned the loss of his teammate, Haku regained consciousness and stood up to realize what had happened. She frowned underneath her porcelain mask when she heard the blonde preteen let out subtle sobs as he laid his teammate to rest and placed his bloodless arms down at his sides. Haku took a few silent steps back towards one of the mirrors and watched, as Naruto was convinced that his teammate was dead.

{{_The Elder Wand by Alexandre Desplat_}}

Once she was safe inside the mirror, she spoke to the preteen with a mournful voice.

"Naruto-kun…" she started slow, "You're teammate struck one blow at me even while he knew it was a trap and he sacrificed himself to save you… At least that's what I believe… He was a true shinobi to have made such an honorable sacrifice… I bet this is the first time you've seen a friend die in battle… I apologize… but this is a part of what it means to be a shinobi…"

The blonde wizard remained still, but then he spoke out to the kunoichi with one word that sent chills down her spine, "Shut up..."

She watched the preteen let his head fall down and he stopped the tears that had flown down his cheeks. The air around him felt different one second later as he looked down at Sasuke and a new emotion started to take him over. Back in the mindscape, Harry had frozen when he sat on his bed and turned his head to the left when he heard a noise that almost drained him of his skin color. He heard the sound of a creature stir and then he heard that same creature let out a terrible rumble. The mindscape shivered and quaked as books, instruments, and old statues fell down onto the carpeted floors. Harry stood up at once and ran out into the old corridor. Once he reached the decorated hall lined with the stone torches and tapestries, he looked toward the direction of the Kyuubi's chamber. The torches down the corridor went out one at a time with a wind that pushed the wizard back and then the corridor was dark and ominous. He looked out into the darkness and his green eyes widened when a red-orange light burst into the corridor and flooded the hall like molten rock.

"Oh dear God…"

Back in the real world, an ominous amount of steam came seeping out of Naruto's tracksuit and the senbon needles that were stuck inside him were pushed out as his muscles convulsed. The wounds that decorated his skin and face were healed in an instant, in fact, it was so fast, that the wounds hissed and released an unusual amount of steam that gathered inside the ice dome. The air seemed to become warm and dense as Naruto looked down at his teammate and the fire in his chest drove him into an emotional state that he could not explain or control. He breathed through his nose and stood up on his feet as the needles fell onto the concrete and clattered. He still looked down at Sasuke and spoke to him as if he were still there with him.

"I hated you since the first time we met... and sometimes I wished you would just disappear, because you were so mean to me... but I never meant it like this... I never wanted you to die...not like this..."

Back in the mindscape, Harry withdrew his wand from his robes and held it in front of him. He shouted out the names of some of the most complex and powerful spells he knew and thrust his arm forth. His spells caused the wall of flames to part, but exerted a force upon him that would have broken his legs like toothpicks if he were human. He let out an inhuman roar while he could feel the emotions that his little brother felt now. He had never been more scared, never been more terrified than he felt at this moment when he recognized the emotion that took over Naruto.

Rage.

Back inside the epicenter of the ice dome, the blonde shinobi closed his eyes while the steam that billowed around him turned into an orange fire and evaporated all of the mist within the sealed dome. The fire encircled him and caused the cement beneath his feet to start cracking as if he weighed over two hundred thousand pounds. When the masked girl saw his face, she gasped in fright when his cheeks were decorated with whisker marks that were as black as ink and made his face more furious and rough. She observed his eyes and trembled in fear when they were no longer a wonderful shade of sapphire-blue. The brilliant orbs she had become captivated with were now a shade of incredible crimson with pupils converted into black slits. The whites around his irises were bloodshot with tears still streaming down his face without control. Naruto furrowed his eyebrows like an animal while his new whisker marks on his cheeks stretched across his cheeks, and he turned into a feral beast.

Haku couldn't even speak, as the power of the fire started to take effect on both her and the mirrors she had created. The ice began to sweat at the intense heat while Naruto turned around to face her and revealed that his canines had been sharpened until he resembled a demonic fox placed into human form. He stretched out his hands and flexed his fingers when the burning red chakra flowed through his veins like an unbearable poison. His fingernails had grown in an instant and turned into a set of indestructible claws that were itching to slice through the warm flesh of a certain kunoichi. Naruto spoke to ice princess with a voice that was not his own; it was deep, raw, blood-drenched, and inhuman.

"**Do me a favor and keep still...**" he said with a demonic voice,"**Because I'm going to kill you...** "

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><p>To Be Continued…<p>

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><p><strong>There we are folks! The Kyuubi arrives at last! It took me forever to write out this scene, and I can only hope that I managed to deliver. I'll try to work to get the next chapter finished soon, but I'm not sure how long it will take. But in the meantime, please be sure to leave behind a review if you liked it! <strong>

**Laters!**


	11. The Nine Tailed Demon Fox

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura/Giant Zabuza

'_Blah_': Naruto's thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

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><p><strong>Hello readers! I have returned! But I want to point this out that this chapter will be a short one. Although the possession scene will take up a good amount of time to read. I would like to point out that I have finished two of the final three chapters of this book. It took me months to finish but now I think its almost perfect. It's sort of like a three-part epilogue, so I'll post those final three chapters with little time between their updates, about 1 to 5 days between each part.<strong>

**Also have an announcement to make! **

**Azeroth44 will post his first story next week! He is writing a Doctor Who/Naruto crossover and I have already read his prologue and I have to admit that I was hooked to it at once. His first chapter is a little bit short but its more than enough to get you invested if you're a fan of Doctor Who and if you're interested in how the famous Time Lord ties into the Naruto world. I would recommend it to anyone that likes Doctor Who and Naruto.**

**If you're interested, check it out!**

**But without further adieu, I give you the next exciting (though short) chapter of the Assassin of the Mist!**

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><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto**

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling and Warner Bros**

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><p>Chapter 11: The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox<p>

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><p>{{<em>Muttations by James Newton Howard<em>}}

The flames of the red chakra surrounded Naruto almost in the complete form of a miniaturized vortex. The fires spread and caressed the surface of the mirrors, causing them to melt one droplet at a time. The fires also licked his skin and hair while the heat of the chakra started burning his orange and blue tracksuit. His hair turned more wild and insane while the plastic zipper and teeth of his tracksuit melted from the intense heat. The molten plastic splattered onto his arms and legs and burned through his clothes and then seared his flesh. But that was nothing compared to what Naruto felt while the chakra flooded into him.

The chakra flowed through his veins and cruised through his muscles and tissues as if it were the venom of a basilisk. The intense and demonic energies burned as the chakra almost poisoned and contaminated his insides. His muscles and tissues all succumb to the venom-like chakra when it splashed through him to consume, infect, and continue to spread out like a wild fungus. His muscles, nerves, organs, and blood were all burned and boiled as if he had been thrown into the mouth of an active volcano. Naruto let out a terrible roar when it felt like he had been thrown into a storm of white-hot flames. He writhed and lashed out like a blind monster while he stood up and let the rest of the senbon fall out of his clothes now that the tracksuit was open. The experience was unbearable while the intense pain escalated to the point where Naruto believed that he was drowned in a sea of flames and white-hot kunai. He let out one more horrible roar and the flames around him started to die down. But the venomous pain and the intense air-like pressure that surrounded him remained.

The skin on his arms that was burned from the melted zipper and teeth was healed within seconds. The burned cells were shriveled and blackened until the chakra touched them and created new skin cells in an instant. But seconds after all of his injuries were healed with the chakra, his skin started to burn from the influence of the demon chakra and then it started to heal once more in an unnatural process. Naruto twitched and turned feral while the chakra continued to burn him and throw him into an even more intense wrath. The blonde shinobi should not have felt so much pain in this state of possession, but it was the price the child had to pay because he had magic flowing through his veins since birth. Naruto almost bathed in the magical arts and the positive influence of his magical powers overran the influence that the demon fox held over him. But it was because of his preference towards the light side of magic that led to the demon chakra feeling like it was some poisonous venom. His magic acted to protect him from the fox and now the demon's chakra spread through him like an infectious disease.

Back outside the ice dome, Kakashi and Zabuza were both frozen where the two of them stood and looked toward the direction of the ice dome, even though neither one of them could see it through the dense mist. Zabuza was forced to open his eyes when he felt the red chakra and shivered. Kakashi was about to remove one of the scrolls from his chest pouch, but his heart almost stopped when he felt the intense pressure and heard the roars and shouts that followed. The energies both men could feel in the air felt foul and what could be interpreted as pure evil with how it caused them both to tremble and sweat. For a few minutes, the air was thick and rich with the red chakra that it almost felt like the shinobi in the area were not breathing in mist, but instead a toxic gas. Zabuza almost had to clear his throat when the densities in the air hit him too hard. He suspected that his opponent was behind it somehow, but as time went on he started to doubt that Kakashi had anything to do with.

'_What is this…? I sense an incredible power… But it's foul…_'the assassin speculated, '_It couldn't be Kakashi, it feels like a monster… It feels so much bigger than he is… What's going on here…?_'

Kakashi shouted inside his head and almost had a heart attack once he realized what had happened, '_Naruto!_ _This is impossible! Has the seal on his stomach broken? Now of all times! We're all in danger here! This is bad!_'

There was a silent pause as Kakashi tried to assess the situation and waited for the chakra to increase in size and feel the intense power that was almost enough to choke on. He expected to hear more monstrous roars and feel more chakra flow out, but that never happened. The demon's chakra seemed to remain the same as if it were being restrained. The masked man heard the sounds of one or two more human-like roars and then he heard a shuffle ensue from inside the sealed dome. Kakashi took a breath and relaxed for a few seconds as he looked over his shoulder in the direction of his blonde student.

'_I sense… that the seal is still intact… It must have loosened or cracked and the chakra has slipped out… I think we'll be safe, but I have to help Naruto now or he could become lost to the power of the demon… I have to put an end to this now before it's too late… Please, Naruto, don't let the demon take over!_'

Kakashi removed a small scroll from his vest and with a flick of his hand, removed the seal that closed it shut. With another swift movement with his hand, he tossed the scroll up into the air and dipped his thumb into the wound across his chest. When he caught the scroll with his left hand, he let it out and smeared the blood on his thumb down the extended length of the scroll and the paper almost sizzled when it made contact with his blood. Kakashi Hatake adopted a serious look on his masked face and started to unravel his scroll and perform incredible tricks and waves with it while he released an impressive amount of chakra that spread out all around him. The waves of the scroll helped to spread out his own chakra as he continued to gather it for the technique he had in mind. He took in one deep breath through his nose and spoke up to the man that had been antagonizing him.

"I don't mean to spoil the fun and cut the hunt short, Zabuza. But how about we put an end to this _now_?"

Once the masked shinobi made one last incredible move with his scroll and spread out enough chakra, he rolled the scroll up with a sharp snap of his arm and tossed the scroll up into the air. The scroll soar up high and spun around so fast that it almost looked like a disk until Kakashi caught it and placed it in both his hands while he formed the first handsign for a jutsu that Zabuza would not be able to anticipate. The masked shinobi smirked underneath his mask, even though his opponent could not see him or his real face and spoke to the demon assassin as if he were about to have fun with him and taunted.

"C'mon," he teased with his voice, "What do you say, doctor dickhead?"

Zabuza remained frozen once he looked towards the ice dome and assumed the surge of mysterious chakra came out from one of the two children that were inside the ice prison. For one second, he wondered how Haku held up against them with that surge of chakra, but soon set his thoughts back to the silver-haired man that sounded so sure and confident all of a sudden.

"Hmmm… I'm curious to see how you can back up such brave words… Show me what you've got, Kakashi!"

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><p>{{<em>Muttations by James Newton Howard (continued)<em>}}

Naruto unleashed one more burst of the red chakra that caused the closed space between the mirrors to explode. He then turned around and faced Haku while the air pressure around him increased his rage. His new scarlet eyes blazed with the power of a thousand burning worlds while his white teeth clenched hard enough to crush diamonds. He let out another furious roar and stood in a crouched position with his knees bent in a fashion that made him look more like a feline monster in human form. The force of the roar echoed and bounced off the walls enough to cause the kunoichi to cover her ears while she struggled to keep her vision set on the feral blonde preteen. Without another second to waste, Naruto sprang into action and sprint towards his opponent at speeds that even Haku had trouble following. She had but one second to react when Naruto approached the mirror in a fraction of that time. She was forced to leave the mirror and started bouncing from one to the next until she was visible inside all the mirrors. She used her chakra to increase her speed, but the strain it put on her to outrun Naruto was enormous. If she was not careful, she could break her own technique and she would be exposed to an attack.

Back inside the mindscape, the wizard struggled as he tried to keep the lava-like chakra from consuming him. Harry held out his wand like an indestructible sword and sliced through the lava while he marched towards the chamber where the chakra was coming from. Sweat beat down his face in torrents and he could hear his heartbeat inside his ears. His clothes weighed him down and started to burn in these intense alien conditions. The tapestries and paintings on the walls were all burned or melted when the chakra infested them and started to transform the walls. The beautiful corridors were starting to revert back into the condition the demon fox left them in when both entities were locked inside. Harry continued to march forth but the heat almost got to him once or twice, and he shouted out in the hopes that his little brother could hear his voice.

"Naruto! Calm down!"

The wizard was forced to abandon his robes and refused to watch as the chakra consumed them like it did the walls. Harry was left with his blue dress shirt and his dark pants while his robes were burned into ashes. He let out a feral roar like his little brother and stormed through the flames until he reached the chamber. Once he was inside, he unleashed a powerful amount of magical energy that forced the chakra to move around him and escape through the door, like he was surrounded with an invisible sphere that protected him. Harry looked up at the cage and watched in unspeakable horror as the demon started to stir and awaken.

"Not good," he panicked, "This is definitely not good!"

Harry's flinched in pain and started to realize that the chakra started to affect him in a more physical manner. He realized that his face and cheeks were burned from the close contact with the lava-like chakra. He also noticed that his shirt was a little burned as well and started to unbutton the first two buttons on his blue shirt to expose a fraction of his chest and help him breath in the intense heat of the volcanic-like chamber. The chakra then started to fluctuate and transformed into an intense fire that reminded the wizard when he was last inside the Room of Requirement; when Crabbe set the place ablaze with the Fiendfyre. The heat became more and more intense with each second and Harry looked towards the cage and started focusing more magic in his hands. When he shot out his arms, more chains emerged from his sleeves and started wrapping around the beast in order to keep it down. But the fox shivered and then unleashed a wave of more chakra that blasted Harry off his feet.

"AHH!"

He landed on his back hard and the heat of the flames burned his face some more when he realized that the fox's subconscious actions were being fueled with Naruto's negative emotions. The wizard looked through the connection and watched for one second as Naruto zoomed towards the first mirror at speeds almost too fast for him to follow. He looked back at the fox through the steel bars and watched in unspeakable terror as the beast's gigantic scarlet eye opened and looked down at him and focused it's slit pupil.

"GODDAMN IT! NARUTO SNAP OUT OF IT!"

The wizard screamed out but his little brother was unable to hear him. The fox released another torrent of lava and fire-like chakra and fed it to Naruto like an overstuffed pig. The ancient wizard glared at the fox with a ferocious expression of his own. He snarled at the beast while the fox seemed to smirk down at him like it could express emotions like that of a humans. The expression almost surprised the wizard when it started to chuckle with a voice that made his spine shiver in intimidation.

"**YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I SENSED ON THAT WONDERFUL BLOOD-SOAKED NIGHT… THE LITTLE SOUL THAT WAS SUCKED INTO THE SEAL…**"

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><p>Naruto slid down on the floor and turned around to see Haku inside all the mirrors around him. He sprint towards the middle of the dome and started to look around with a wild expression still plastered across his face. His scarlet eyes darted from mirror to mirror in search for the one Haku stood apart from the others. He was blind with rage while he searched for the kunoichi but stopped moving when all of the shinobi threw senbon needles at him. Naruto clenched inward and curled into a ball while the needles entered his skin. He hesitated for one second but then flexed all his muscles and unleashed a surge of red chakra that caused all the needles to erupt from his skin and shoot out into the sea.<p>

"**NYAAAAA!**"

The skin that was pierced was healed in one second and he listened as he heard the kunoichi appear inside the mirror behind him. Before Haku could attack him and enter another mirror, the blonde child turned around and ran towards her at an even faster speed while he focused the red chakra into his feet. The masked kunoichi attempted to slow him down when she threw five senbon needles at him, but Naruto unleashed another roar that blasted the needles out of his path. Haku almost had to cover her ears when the sound wave struck her and she tried to keep her sights set on the possessed blonde preteen.

'_N-Naruto-kun... He has too much power... What has happened to him?_'

When the blonde preteen appeared at the foot of the mirror, he threw his clawed fist backward, and threw it into the mirror. It all happened at once, but the fox did some extra work for the blonde shinobi when the beast sent its chakra into him and made it so that it would enhance his skin. The chakra flowed into all his skin cells and turned his skin into a flexible granite-like substance that caused him to become as hardened as solid diamond.

Once he smashed his indestructible fist into the mirror, it then shattered it into a thousand pieces.

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><p>Back in the mindscape, Harry and the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox looked at each other with opposite facial expressions on their individual faces. The smaller wizard snarled at the beast while the monster looked down at him with a twisted smile while it continued to fuel and influence little Naruto's actions and burn his insides. The immortal man withdrew his phoenix wand and scarlet sparks erupted from the tip while his teeth clenched when he saw his little brother shatter the first mirror.<p>

"STOP IT!" he shouted, "YOU LET HIM GO, BEAST!"

The demon smirked at the small but handsome man, "**WHY SHOULD I? I'M HAVING TOO MUCH FUN AND IT'S ONLY BEEN A FEW SECONDS. I WANT TO SEE HOW FAR THIS GOES. I WANNA HAVE MORE FUN WITH THIS HUMAN.**"

"IF YOU DON'T LET HIM GO, I SWEAR BY ALL THAT IS HOLY-"

"**WHAT WILL YOU DO, LITTLE HUMAN? DO YOU INTEND TO STOP ME? I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY.**"

That last taunt pushed the wizard to whip out his wand and unleash an unknown charm that created a beam of light that shot through the steel bars and struck the demon in the neck. The demon fox let out a terrible roar that shook the entire mindscape and turned all the rooms into individual war zones. The beast tried to shake and avoid the attack towards its neck, but the chains that restrained it kept it in place. The demon tried to fight with all its might but all it managed to do was snap one of the chains. The wizard used his other hand to strengthen the chains that remained but the fox noticed this and opened its maw. The demon then released a blast of demonic energies that took the form of dark spheres that were about the same size as medicine balls. The fox was not able to charge its unknown technique but had enough residual energy in its mouth to attack the wizard. Harry was not fast enough to react or dodge and was blasted with one of the spheres. The black sphere exploded and threw off his feet. The demonic energies of the attack seared his face and clothes at the same time, even when he fell down on his back.

"ARGH!"

He landed ten feet before the exit to the chamber and coughed while the demon chakra continued to escape. With the wizard incapacitated, the fires of the demon continued to pour out in torrents. This caused Naruto to continue his attacks toward Haku with the intention to kill her. The demon fox smirked again; it's black lips drooling with acidic saliva while its giant tongue caressed its razor-sharp teeth in anticipation towards its possible escape or a delicious meal of immortal flesh and bone.

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><p>Back in the real world, the shattered pieces of ice seemed to levitate in the air while Naruto waited for a fraction of a second for the next move. The world seemed to stand still in front of him while his advanced and enhanced senses opened him to a new world that he could but imagine. He could pick up the tiniest and most insignificant details around him as opposed to his somewhat flawed vision, where he would need glasses to see. It was like he could watch the world through a special vision that seemed to slow down for him in order to assess his surroundings and choose his next possible action. He could feel so much more, despite the fact that the chakra around him still burned through his veins like fire and threw him into this unbearable and intolerable rage. He could hear so much in the one second he took after he shattered the mirror and could listen to all the small, insignificant noises he never would have picked up a few minutes ago. He could hear Haku breath deep and calm breaths, but could also pick up how intense her heartbeat was while she struggled to incapacitate her opponent. He could also hear the ruffle sounds that the kunoichi's clothes made when she moved and heard it when she withdrew another needle and prepared to use it to stab Naruto once she was prepared.<p>

He listened and waited for that one fraction of a second when she emerged from a broken piece of the mirror and zoomed down at him with enough speed to outrun a bullet. Naruto drove his clawed hand into the floor; his granite-like skin was able to penetrate the solid concrete and he threw himself out of his previous position while he spun like a top and dodged Haku's attack. When he appeared at the one end of the damaged dome opposite Sasuke's corpse, he adopted another animalistic position and glared at Haku with those same furious red eyes that almost paralyzed her where she stood. Naruto drove his claws into the bloodstained concrete and used his limbs like the legs of an animal. He zoomed towards Haku once he saw her emerge from the cloud of dust and concrete when she plunged her needle down into the floor.

She started to panic inside her mind, '_No... I can't lose... I CANNOT BE DEFEATED! NOT LIKE THIS! NOT THIS SOON!_'

Haku withdrew another series of senbon and aimed the needles at the nerves inside Naruto's legs and arms. She tossed them at him, but the possessed child had focused his chakra into his feet and dodged all of the needles as he continued to speed towards Haku. She panicked and threw another wave of needles, but then Naruto whipped out a kunai and deflected most of them. One of the needles struck his shoulder, but his granite-like skin-shield protected him and it bounced onto the floor to be swept from the air pressure. The kunoichi tried one more time with the senbon but it was useless when Naruto attempted to swipe at her with his steel-like claws.

Haku tried to dodge and evade a direct confrontation while she could feel the more intense heat radiate from the blonde boy that tried to kill her. She tried to focus her chakra into her feet and tried to outrun Naruto like the two of them did in the forest. Once she was almost on the same level of speed he was, she could attack him again. But the confrontation that followed did not last long. The two shinobi were thrown into a short taijutsu combat, where Haku would use a series of impressive kicks to attack while Naruto used his claws to tear his opponent into shredded meat. When the masked kunoichi managed to land a kick to Naruto's chest, her foot was burned and she let out a subtle scream of pain. Soon, the possessed blonde shinobi grasped her ankle and started swinging her around the dome until he let her go and she tumbled towards the opposite end of the arena. Haku soon stood up and ignored the severe burn on her foot while she focused on Naruto. She withdrew another needle and threw it at him out of desperation.

But then Naruto clicked his fingers and cried out, "**Expelliarmus!**"

A bright flash of red light blazed in his hands for a spilt-second before Haku's thrown needle was tossed to the side and out of the dome and into the sea. She tried attacking him with senbon again, this time aiming for his head. But Naruto dodged it and started to sprint towards her. She tried one more time but Naruto clicked his fingers again and another flash blazed in his hands and the needles were thrown out and made into battlefield rubbish when he shouted out that same alien word as before.

"**Expelliarmus!**"

She tried to reach back for more weapons but then turned a shade paler under her mask when she realized that she had used all of them. The last choice she had left was to retreat back into the mirrors. Haku focused her chakra and soared towards the closest mirror and hid inside it. Naruto followed her as the venomous chakra continued to enhance his speed without the need to be concentrated, where as it did it for him. The blonde shinobi used another spell that expelled another flash of light at Haku, but she had slipped inside the mirror and was protected. She prepared to switch positions when the blonde shinobi sprint towards her and tried to pick up the senbon that was still on the floor or the ones that were still inside Sasuke. The first time she did it, she was successful even while Naruto followed her. But it was the second time she tried to obtain more senbon where the blonde shinobi anticipated her next movements when she switched mirrors from opposite ends of the incomplete dome.

"_What?_"

Naruto had appeared from out of nowhere and grasped her right arm to hold her in place. The feral blonde child looked up at her with those dark whisker marks exposed on his cheeks and those brilliant red orbs that froze her to the spot with fear in her heart. The blonde preteen let out a wild snarl and then unleashed another wave of air pressure that caused the mirrors to crack. He let out another roar while the mirrors continued to crack and pop, meanwhile the cold in the air almost vanished with the heat of the new chakra.

"**AAAUUURGH!**"

Haku tried to fight his unbelievable strength and tried to hold back the chakra while it started to burn her clothes. But Naruto's claws tore through the thick fabric while his demon's chakra started to burn the kunoichi's skin. He did not smirk when he clenched his fist one more time and decided to be slow when he threw it back for one sweet punch. The masked kunoichi tried to fight but then the claws tore into her skin and hit a couple of nerves that cancelled her concentration and she succumbed to the intense heat and pressure of the red chakra. She let her free arm fall to her side while a hidden expression of horror was plastered across her pale and beautiful face

'_I CAN'T WITHSTAND HIS CHAKRA! THIS IS IT!_'

She would have collapsed or lost consciousness, but then Naruto clenched his fist and drove his granite-like knuckles into the porcelain mask that had protected her face this entire battle up until now. There was a thunderous boom when his fist was driven into her masked face. There was another surge of the red chakra that forced the kunoichi to soar upward. Haku was thrown backward and Naruto released his hold on her arm to watch as she flew out towards one of the mirrors on the second level. The mirror was blasted out of existence when her head drove through it and shattered it into another thousand pieces. She flew out through the various pieces of glass-like ice and was tossed out towards the uncompleted end of the bridge. Haku slammed into the floor of the structure and rolled across the surface of the construction sight like she was a rag doll. She continued to spin and roll until she started to slide out and then came to a stop once the friction of the dirt and concrete kicked in. Once she stopped, her porcelain mask cracked in ten different places and started to slide down her bloodless face.

Back at the ice dome, Naruto was hunched over his knee when the mirrors around him started to crack and pop until all of them shattered into millions of pieces and the cold that was influenced from Haku's presence had vanished like it never even existed. Haku tried to stand up on her own two feet, but she was sluggish and almost moved like a mindless zombie when she tried to straighten her back. Several pieces of her mask slid down her face and revealed an alarming amount of blood that dripped down from the inside of the mask and her solid chin. Naruto was still set on eliminating his opponent and sprint towards the kunoichi with the same speed that the demon granted him. His insides were still on fire even when he lunged through the air and saw Haku stand up and face him. She wore an emotionless mask when she saw her destruction land on the floor and sprint towards her again with his fist reeled back for the final blow.

Haku looked up while the rest of her porcelain mask fell to the floor and shattered into the same condition as she felt. She felt shattered down to her core and then felt broken and useless while she stared into space and canceled out all of her emotions and senses.

'_Master Zabuza… I am no match for him… Master… I have failed…_'

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><p>Back in the mindscape, Harry tried to stand up as well while the flames and lava of the red chakra continued to pour into his little brother. His face was bruised and bloodied in various places while his clothes were burned and ruined. He tried to wipe his glasses clean from his own blood while he looked up at the demon and clenched his wand with determination. He tried the same spell as before and aimed the beam of light into where he assumed the fox's heart was located. He let out a roar and the beast roared back at him like the animal it was and released another series of attacks that forced the wizard to start dodging and running to keep on his feet. Harry tried to avoid the demon's attacks and started using defensive spells while he threw the same spell as before and managed to lessen the fox's influence over his little brother. But it wasn't enough when the demon used the same attack again and hit the wizard hard enough to throw back to the middle of the chamber.<p>

He looked back at Naruto through the connection and watched as the feral shinobi moved in to kill Haku with the final blow. He let out one last breath to communicate to him before it was too late and he would lose him to the demon.

"_**NARUTO!**_"

The voice at last reached his ears, and Naruto focused inward while the demon controlled him in the real world. The blonde teen materialized to the location of the voice he heard with his clothes unscathed and his face returned to normal. The blonde preteen looked up in shock when he realized where he was and looked back to see his brother bloodied up and burned all over. His skin turned a shade pale and he sprinted to his brother's side.

"NII-SAN!"

Naruto soon looked back at the demon fox and withdrew his own wand and snarled at the beast when it smiled at him for the first time.

"YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE, YOU MONSTER!"

Out of frustration and rage, the blonde shinobi threw out his own version of the same spell that his brother used and aimed it at the demon, striking it in the face. The beast's eyes were struck with pure light and were burned with the same horrible sensation that it forced Naruto to experience when the creature possessed him and infected him with its chakra. At once, the demon's concentration was cancelled out and the flames and lava were cut off. The older wizard next to Naruto started to stand again and focused an absurd amount of magic into the palm of his hand and forced it to shoot out of his hand and strike the demon hard enough to take it down. The combined forced of both wizards forced the demon into submission and the influence it held over the little blonde preteen was cancelled out.

Once the connection had been severed, the real-world Naruto froze in place when his fist was almost one inch from striking Haku in the face. The blonde preteen watched as the demon was forced back into the cage. He continued to watch as the beast fixed its gaze upon him and Naruto looked into its open scarlet eyes for the first time. He couldn't imagine what it must have been like for the people of Konoha on the night he was born when this monster attacked them, nor could he understand how the shinobi and his unknown father had the courage to face it in combat. He couldn't even move when he looked into the scarlet orb and almost urinated where he stood while Harry worked to repair the damaged chain and forced more silver chains to pin the beast down. But soon he found the courage to move again when the fox was forced to sleep and his companion rested his burned hand on the smaller one's shoulder. Naruto looked up at his older brother and could have cried when he looked down at him with a warm but exhausted smile.

"Excellent aim, Little one…" he said, "The beast has been locked down…"

The blonde child tried to speak, "Nii-san…"

"Get back out there…" he interrupted, "You still have a battle to win… We'll talk about this later…"

But before the child could react or answer him, his companion sent him back into the real world. When he blinked, his face was covered with a shadow while his clenched fist, which was still thrown out in front of him, one approximate inch from Haku's face while he could feel her cold breath against his knuckles. Naruto blinked one more time while his feral and wild characteristics started to revert back to normal. His blonde hair was restored and flowed down his head in a delightful mess. Meanwhile, the razor-sharp claws were turned back into normal fingernails and his back was fixed into its natural position that did not make him resemble a wild animal. Naruto's skin was returned to normal and was no longer impenetrable. His whisker marks were not as prominent, but the lines were still there and it would take some time before the marks would recede back into his cheeks. His canines also receded back into his skull while his scarlet orbs reverted back into the familiar and beautiful shade of sapphire-blue. The air pressure was gone and the burning sensation that terrorized Naruto's insides was gone too, although it still hurt a lot to move since the chakra had done its damage and it would take time to heal and recover. His muscles were tense and overexerted, so it was no wonder that his limbs hurt so much.

{{_A Dream Discarded by John Williams + The Chairman's Waltz by John Williams_}}

But once he was back in the real world and could feel all of his facial characteristics return to normal, the blonde preteen looked up and saw Haku there with her mask shattered on the floor with droplets of her own blood scattered all over the pieces. She looked down at her opponent with a blank expression on her pale face that made it look like she was dead. She did not attack, nor did she attempt to dodge an attack that would never come. She just stood there, without a care in the world and looked down at Naruto as if she lost all will to fight or even live.

"Haku… You're name is Haku…"

The blonde child looked up with a fallen face and took a few steps back once he felt the last of the red chakra disappear. He looked down at his hands and could still feel all the violence he committed whilst he was out of control. He could still feel the mirror break beneath his knuckles and the smooth surface of the porcelain mask touch the back of his hand while the chakra burned his insides. He could still feel the damage done when the venomous chakra had spread through his veins and infected him with ultra-violence and rage. Naruto had never felt a worse sensation than that and couldn't imagine another injury to be as bad or worse. It felt sick to have felt it inside him and the idea of the beast possessing him made him scared to even move. He tried to shake his head at it all, but the memories were still there in his head.

"I… I don't… I-I couldn't… W-What have I done?"

Haku looked confused and lost while Naruto trembled and denied his involvement with the possession. She thought he was about to end her existence but then he stopped and changed his mind as if someone had clicked a button inside his brain or switched him with someone else. He didn't seem to realize that she was there for a second until she spoke up with a perplexed and unsettled voice.

"I don't understand… I murdered your comrade," she reminded him, "Your friend is dead and you still spare me?"

Naruto looked back at the masked kunoichi and then looked back at his teammate on the floor behind him. He was dead. His skin was as white as marble with blood stained all over his clothes to make the transition all the more clear that he was alive no more. It was at seeing his teammate dead did Naruto remember how the demon was able to take over and his frustration and rage all came back to him, but he was restrained now that he could see the kunoichi's face. The blonde preteen reeled his arm back and threw out a flash of pure white light while he roared out an incantation.

He roared out, "_FODIO!_"

The magical energies blasted Haku in the face and threw her back onto the floor while the sound of a firework echoed around them, and then there was silence.

She soon picked herself up and coughed out a mouthful of blood while a small amount of her right cheek swelled from the minimized effects of a Stinging Jinx. Naruto's hand burned from the use of the spell, but he didn't care while he watched the kunoichi stand back up. He wanted to use another curse on the kunoichi but something inside his heart prevented him from attacking her. When she stood up and cleaned the corner of her mouth, she looked at her opponent with an almost disappointed look.

"The chakra… where has it gone?" she asked as the blonde preteen panted, "Without that power, there is no chance that you will be able to kill me…"

The genin froze but then chose to adopt a defensive position, "Then attack me, Haku… I won't be a murderer… I won't be that merciless…"

"Most people believe that when a shinobi shows mercy to an enemy, then it is a sign of kindness…" she started out slow, "But it's not a kindness to me now…it's cruel… It's a sign that I'm now weak and inferior to you… Master Zabuza has no use for a weak shinobi… I have lost my reason to exist… I have failed him as his tool…"

Naruto protested at once, "Hold on! There's something that I don't understand."

Haku looked up at her opponent with that same blank stare while he wore a more worried and frustrated expression.

He continued with, "Why is Zabuza Momochi so precious? What did he do that made you want to follow and protect him? _He's a dishonorable man and doesn't care who he works for or who gets hurt!_ He's a heartless mercenary! _What makes him so important?_ Didn't you have other people that were more important to you? Friends? Family? _Who else is there?_"

The kunoichi removed some more blood from the corner of her mouth and looked down at the smeared red substance smeared on her thumb. She almost started to smile while she reminisced. She thought about the place where she was born and the people that used to care for her and protect her. Then she remembered when she started to manipulate water while she was outside and her mother screamed for her to stop. Then she remembered when the bad men came to the house and tried to claim her life with bats and pitchforks. There was violence and spears made of water and ice and then she was alone. She could remember all the blood from that horrible evening and how none of it was hers. She abandoned her home and searched for another purpose. She then traveled down towards the farthest civilization she could find in the hopes that no one would know her and started to live on the streets. Haku remembered the starvation and the constant struggle to survive until she met the man with the bandages over his face that kneeled down to her and offered a chance to live with a new purpose in her life. The man took her in and started to teach her in the art of the shinobi. The two of them stood tall at the edge of a cliff and looked down at Kirigakure no Sato while Zabuza looked determined and vainglorious. Haku just stood at his side and smiled while she repeated the same words she had been taught to recite whenever asked. She soon snapped back into reality and looked up at Naruto with a charming smile while she talked to him.

"I used to live with parents… I was born in a small village in the Land of Water where it snowed all the time… I had a mother and a father and both of them were simple farmers. I can remember we lived in peace and happiness all the time… I didn't have a lot of friends, but that didn't matter much to me… I was still convinced that I had the most perfect life…"

Naruto watched as Haku's upturned smile turned into a slight frown and she look back at the blood on her hands.

"But then it all changed when I was little and I discovered that I could bend water and transform it into shapes and ice… In case it hasn't sunken in, I possess a rare kekki genkai that was passed down to me through mother… Back in the Land of Water, genetic traits and kekki genkai were the cause of constant struggle… those clans that possessed such powers and gifts were later considered abominations… Kirigakure no Sato and the Mizukage at the time sought the people who possessed such traits as mine and had them all exterminated… At least that's what I learned from Zabuza…"

Haku almost smirked when she said the next part but soon frowned once more.

"But there were some people from certain clans that survived and lived out normal lives so long as their heritage was hidden… My mother was a normal civilian from the former Yuki clan and I inherited the ability to control and manipulate water… It wasn't soon after I started to learn how to bend that my father discovered the truth and killed my mother and tried to kill me…"

Naruto started while he stood and stared in shock, "Haku…"

"In the end I survived…" she said with a subtle dark tone in her voice, "But I had no choice but to kill my own father and all the villagers that tried to kill me as well…"

The blonde genin froze when he learned of this and remained quiet and still when she talked again.

"It was at that time that I knew what I was. And I was forced to accept the most painful truth."

Naruto asked her, "What was that?"

"I was forced to accept it… Accept that I was alone in the world… Superfluous. Unwanted. Shunned…"

The blonde preteen froze one more time and felt a cold spot in his heart when he heard the kunoichi utter that last sentence and studied her facial expression. He could remember having a face just like hers now back when he was abandoned and alone in his apartment at the time before he met the other half of his soul. Back when he first learned about the Kyuubi, he felt the same way that Haku just described. Except in his case, he was able to lean on Harry for support when he needed it back when he first learn the truth. But soon the reality set in and he realized how lonesome he was when it came to other people around him and not just the man he talked to that no one else could see or know existed. Naruto looked up at Haku and pressed his hand against his chest and clenched the burnt fabric while he reminisced as well and nodded his head.

"I… I know what you mean," he said, "I understand how that feels…"

Haku blinked and then continued, "Didn't you tell me once that you wanted to become the number one shinobi in your village and force the people to acknowledge your existence… But there must have been someone else that did more than that and helped save you when that loneliness and that darkness almost consumed you… Wasn't there someone that acknowledged and even cared for you from the bottom of their heart? And if so, wouldn't that person become one of the most important person in your life?"

The blonde shinobi paused and thought about, not one but two people that done that for him. He thought about the man with the glasses and the other man with the tan skin and warm face. If it weren't for those two people, he couldn't imagine how in the world he would have ended up like.

"Master Zabuza found me on the street and adopted me, even though he knew that I came from one of those despised clans… It was the one thing about me that everyone hated, that Zabuza loved and treasured…"

Naruto watched as Haku's expression started to change. Her face started to soften and her cheeks he began to flush with color and life while she thought about her precious master. She could remember all the countless hours the two of them spent together to train her and teach her to become death that wore a mask. Whenever she excelled on one particular training session, the heartless master presented Haku with a pet snow rabbit, the same one she had seen in a window of a store for domestic pets, and it was also the same rabbit the two of them used for the diversion that Naruto and Kakashi both picked up last week. There was no way to know if the man smiled under his mask, but Haku was convinced that he was even though there was no indication to prove that.

She soon spoke again, her voice soft and calm while she could feel tears rising up.

"He treasured me as well as the abilities I possessed," her tears soon poured out and she said, "I was so happy with him…"

Naruto could feel his heart break in two when he saw the tears stream down her face but she did not make another noise apart from one sniff or perhaps another.

"I didn't care that he said that he saw me as a weapon… To me, it felt like he wanted to say that he loved me…"

She reached up to her face and wiped the tears that streamed down her pale cheeks as well as the blood that still oozed down from her raven hair.

"I loved him… I remember when he asked me what he needed me for… and I answered that I am his weapon and tool… But now this tool has failed him… I am of no further use…"

The blonde preteen couldn't believe his ears and started to avert his gaze from the kunoichi and down to his feet. He couldn't bear to look at her face while she said that. But it was the next sentence that earned his attention. He looked up when he heard her take one step forward, and listened when she raised her voice and beckoned to him with an almost desperate tone.

"Naruto-kun… Please…"

He asked her with a cautious tone of his own, "What is it?"

"You have to kill me…"

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><p>To Be Continued...<p>

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><p><strong>This was sort of a fun chapter to write as far as the demon chakra scene went. I thought it turned out well. But it was the road to writing this scene that was a challenge. It was difficult to get it down, but I think it turned out ok in the end. I wasn't satisfied with Haku's back-story, but I could always fix it if I feel up to it.<strong>

**Well, I guess I should get started on finishing the next chapter ASAP, that one will be a lot more difficult. Breaking down and redefining, in my opinion, the greatest arc Kishimoto ever wrote is no easy task.**

**Wish me luck and let me know what you guys thought about the new chapter!**


	12. The Weapons Known As Shinobi

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura/Giant Zabuza

'_Blah_': Naruto's thought/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

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><p><strong>Hello again! We are back on track! First some news!<strong>

**Azeroth44 has posted his prologue/first chapter of his first story, Naruto: Lord of Time. He also just informed me that he has the setup finished for his next chapter and that it will be at least two-three weeks before he will post it. He's landing a summer job, so it could take a little time to write out the new chapter.**

**Now I already read some of it and he's told me a lot about it so far, and I have to admit, that it's pretty damn good for his first story. So if you're curious, check it out and see what he has to offer. I'll certainly read it… So long as he promises not to burn me alive if I don't.**

**Here is the link to the tale:** ** s/8138399/1/Naruto_Lord_of_Time**

**Place this address in the URL or search for it on google, under Azeroth44 or Naruto: Lord of Time**

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><p><strong>Now before I start this new chapter of AotM, I just wanted to say that this was a difficult one for me to write. I wanted to stick close to the canon universe of Naruto, but doing so made Naruto and Haku look insane when I reached the part where Naruto agrees to kill her and avenge Sasuke's death. But instead of going down that route, I decided to go on a tangent and make it more reasonable argument between them. Their conversation has been changed a great deal, so that their new conversation fits inside the alternate universe better. Although, it was making these changes that made it so… Well, read and find out.<strong>

**I will write the final part of the battle as soon as possible, where more action, violence, and magic can be expected, but not a lot of magic and no big reveals. But it involves heavy construction machinery, so that's something to look forward to. Oh! And cement! Because that stuff is always fun!**

**After the climatic final battle, there will be two more, fairly short, chapters and then we will have reached the end of the Land of Waves Arc. So far, it's been a great run, and I look forward to read your reviews.**

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><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto**

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling and Warner Bros.**

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><p>Chapter 12: The Weapons Known As Shinobi<p>

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><p>Kakashi remained as still as a statue while he weaved through four specific handsigns to initiate a technique he knew would ensure the outcome of this battle. Once he was finished, the masked shinobi knelt down low and slammed his bloodstained scroll into the smooth surface of the bridge with all his masculine muscular strength. The impact caused the solid concrete around him to crack until it looked like a spider web had formed out and around his hands as well as the scroll. The cracks spread out and the stone floor around him shook and vibrated while he forced an incredible amount of chakra into whatever technique he had used. The silver-haired man let out a subtle feral growl while he forced his chakra to come out and seep into the concrete. He then announced the name of his technique out of an old habit, though his voice was hushed so that he could still surprise Zabuza.<p>

"_Earth-Style: Fanged Pursuit Jutsu!_"

The masked man from the forest closed his eyes while more chakra flowed out through his hands and popped the earth beneath his feet and spread out across the entire bridge. It almost felt like there was something slithering through the rock beneath his feet, grinding through solid concrete, while it spread out all around him. But soon the vibrations ceased around Kakashi, but he still remained planted close to the ground with his hands and the scroll still slammed onto the once solid-smooth surface of the floor. He looked out into the mist and heard a chuckle echo out from his sword-wielding opponent. Instead of flinching with frustration at his taunt, he decided to wait while the last of the sounds he created vanish in an echo.

"It's all useless," the invisible man smiled, "What use are your jutsu if you can't even see me?"

Zabuza started to reach back for his bloodstained kunai and his smile continued to stretch and curved the white bandages wrapped over his mouth and made his facial expression almost obvious. The assassin used his advanced senses to pinpoint Kakashi's exact location and intended to eliminate him once he was could hear his heartbeat. He could still feel Kakashi's warm blood stained on his kunai and used it as an adhesive, so that he had a firm grip over his slick and reliable weapon. He anticipated the moment he would cut his throat and force him to watch Tazuna die at his hand, so much that he could taste it.

"You fell right into the trap…" he chuckled, "How sad, Kakashi Hatake… I thought you were a former ANBU captain… You should know better than to-"

The maniacal assassin was about to finish his sentence and make a surprise move when he heard a strange noise and froze. It sounded like a subtle rumble coming from beneath him; meanwhile he could feel a strange and familiar vibration beneath his feet. Once he recognized the vibrations, the blood in his brain drained down into his legs. Zabuza was surprised when a large set of white jaws and fangs erupted out of the concrete and solid chunks of rock flew up into the air and into his face. There were several more sets of sharp white teeth that blew out through the floor of the bridge and snapped at Zabuza's legs and pinned him down to where he stood. Through the dense mist, he was unable to see most of the creatures that attacked him when about eight more eruptions followed with a series of feral snarls and snaps. Zabuza let out a terrible shout and almost screamed when the teeth of these unseen animals dove their teeth into his unprotected flesh. He felt one last creature clasp its mouth and teeth deep into his left shoulder while he felt a massive set of claws be driven into his arms and a massive set of razor-sharp teeth sank into the massive muscles in his left shoulder. The assassin let out another terrible scream of anguish while he could feel all the warm blood ooze out of his freshest wounds and flow down his torso and legs. The screams and sounds of wild creatures echoed across the structure and reached the ears of Tazuna and Sakura.

The two patrons twitched and then shivered at the sounds of the unknown creatures.

Tazuna stuttered, "T-That noise… What is it?"

"I don't know," answered the untrained kunoichi, "And I don't wanna to find out…"

The old man muttered under his breath, "You're such a coward sometimes…"

"You want to go out there and check it out?" she retorted with a hot voice, "Be my guest, old man!"

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><p>Kakashi smirked when he heard the first several screams and then stood up tall as he let the scroll alone on the floor while he listened to the sounds echo around him. He listened as the screams soon stopped and he let his arms fall down to his sides in a detached manner. The masked shinobi looked ahead as he saw the mist around him begin to clear, second after second. He could see the outline of a monster in front of him as he continued to hear the sounds of the unknown beasts echo all around him with growls and snarls. It took a few more seconds but soon he saw Zabuza Momochi through the mist covered with several new friends.<p>

The man was tackled underneath an onslaught of various hounds and dogs dressed in clothes and metal that resembled a shinobi's uniform from Konoha made for these animals; there was a large black bulldog with a spiked collar, a collie with white and light-brown fur, another collie with a lighter shade of grey fur and a black crest on its head like a mohawk, a smaller canine with tan fur and the kanji for shinobi inked onto its forehead, a larger hound that wore sunglasses over its face, a rare red-furred greyhound with white bandages wrapped around most of its face and snout, one more collie with tan fur and a white snout, and one last small, almost miniature, pug with brown fur, a blue vest, and a shinobi headband that it wore over its head in the same fashion as the pink-haired pariah hiding with Tazuna.

Kakashi smiled at all his animals and could see one of his favorite canines making its small contribution as the small brown pug had its teeth clasped around the ends of Zabuza's headband and hung around with its small hind legs dangling down towards the floor. The masked shinobi smiled at the assassin as the mist cleared enough for him to see his nemesis and all the blood that seeped down into the broken concrete floor.

"I realized that if I couldn't see the criminal, I would have to smell him out…"

Zabuza snarled at Kakashi and looked as shocked as he did when he first used the Sharingan to trick him in their last battle.

"Don't act so surprised. You should have known that it would come down to this. You didn't think I could or would use summoning jutsu in this alien environment? These are my trusted ninken. All of them can track down a targeted scent, no matter how far it might be… Their sense of smell holds no bounds…"

The assassin looked down at all the canines and was shocked to see and feel them all weigh him down and hold him in place at his legs, thighs, arms, and even his sword. The hound with the reddish-fur had its teeth chewed down onto the hole near the end of the massive blade. He could no longer move it; while the black bulldog had its claws lodged into his arms and weighed him down the most as it tightened its bite onto his shoulder. This caused even more blood to leak out and platter onto the floor and seep down into the drill-holes below him that all of the hounds created whilst attacking the criminal-assassin. Zabuza tried to break free with the assistance of his chakra, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not escape with the weight of all these animals weighing him down. He tried several more hidden techniques and secrets to escape, but none of them worked.

"How… is this possible?" he growled in question, "How?"

Kakashi answered him, "Back when I was cut and sliced with the kunai and Kubikiribōchō, the blood from my hand and chest was splattered all over your weapons as well as some of your clothes and skin… You failed to realize it at the time, but I let my guard down on purpose and allowed you to cut me… It was the smell of my blood on your weapons and clothes that helped them track you down… You stink, Zabuza… But it all worked out in my favor in the end… And what's this?"

Zabuza then realized that he could see Kakashi's torn clothes through the mist and the blood that leaked from his wounds. He looked around him and he could almost see the railings on either side of the massive bridge. His mist was starting to clear, as the increased pain from his new wounds caused him to loose focus and the technique to cover the area with mist was beginning to break. It would take several more minutes before the mist would be all cleared and his greatest asset aside from his female apprentice would be ruined. Kakashi smirked underneath his mask and taunted Zabuza now that he knew he was done for. The assassin shivered and shook with rage and frustration while he bit down his teeth and almost caused them to shatter like glass.

"The mist is clearing up, Zabuza. You know what happens next after this," the masked shinobi mocked like he did at the end of the last battle, "You're about to die…"

Zabuza then roared out, "LIKE HELL I EVER WILL!"

"Don't even think about it," threatened the silver-haired man as his opponent started to struggle, "One word from me, and the hounds will tear you into little pieces."

The assassin then shouted in a wild rage while he contemplated over an escape from his confinement, "Release me! NOW!"

"I don't think so, scum… You never did learn how to take a breath once in a while… You were always taking things too far and have been so self-confident… There was the failed Mizukage assassination and the attempted coup d'état… You ended up defecting from Kirigakure, and the hunter-nin were not far behind… You became a missing-nin whose name was well known, even in Konohagakure no Sato… We heard all about your reputation and now you're insane enough to actually go back and give it another go… But in order to do that, you need financial securities. And in order to obtain some of those, you became a mercenary for hire and ended up working for a parasite like Gatō… It's pathetic… You're a disgrace to shinobi all over the world… And I think it's about time someone put a stop to it…"

Kakashi pressed his hands together with a swift and powerful movement. He then weaved through four specific handsigns and grasped his right arm with his left hand. With the second sudden swift movement an incredible amount of chakra was blasted into his right palm. Kakashi's chakra was focused into his hand and it started to gather and change. The chakra that was focused tightly into his palm was then converted into a new form when it surfaced from his skin and ruined glove. There was a sudden spark and then there was a blast of electrical discharges that sparked and bounced in and out of his right hand until it looked like he held a solid bolt of lightning in his hand, like he was an ancient god in human form. Kakashi frowned at Zabuza when he felt his chakra manifest inside his palm and thrust it down towards the floor below him as he roared out the name of his technique while the electrical energies released an incredible amount of raw power.

"_RAIKIRI!_"

His chakra was so strong, that it was visible in the palm of his hand. Zabuza could not believe what he saw as he watched the chakra transform and could feel the electrical discharges vibrate inside his chest from the distance. The mist around the masked man from the forest was cleared as a bluish-white light radiated and flashed around him and cleared his sights and senses. The furious shinobi glared at Zabuza while he marveled at his opponent's newest technique and he had the nerve to still mouth off at him.

The assassin smirked, "What's this? Another copied jutsu from the pathetic Sharingan?"

"No," he answered back as he reminisced, "This is the one technique that I invented that has helped make me a legend in last war… I perfected it when I was thirteen years old… and it's thanks to Minato-sensei and Obito Uchiha that it works like a charm… No opponent I have ever faced has seen me use this more than once… In truth, most of them never had the chance to even see it whenever I cast it…"

Zabuza flinched and then let out several beads of sweat as he looked into both Kakashi's concentrated eyes. The true shinobi glared at him with the intention to kill, releasing his own killer-intent at the same time to let his opponent know how serious he was and that this was the end of their quarrel.

"I will never let you kill Tazuna…He's a brave man with a brilliant dream…" he said with a dangerous voice, "He's the lone heart and soul that remains of this land and all it's people… The bridge he's built will restore the lost hearts of his neighbors and bring the light and wealth back to this land… But you don't care… You're willing to sacrifice all that for a small score of cash… That is not what the shinobi do…"

The assassin threw the other man's speech right back into his face with a hideous face hidden under his facial bandages, "Spare me the lecture… I could never care less for the people at risk or any of their worthless and pathetic dreams… I will become the ultimate shinobi and I will take back Kirigakure no Sato…!"

"Give it a rest…" the masked man replied as he prepared the chakra in his feet to move, "You're the one that's about to die… Not me."

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><p>{{<em>The Garden Meeting by John Williams<em>}}

Naruto and Haku stood across each other as the silence between them continued.

The blonde-haired shinobi's heart almost stopped when he heard this request, and when it started to beat right again, it almost hurt. His heart pounded in his chest and the blood pumped into his ears and face when he thought about his deceased teammate and the chance to avenge him now that his killer was more than willing to accept death. He almost reached down to his weapons holster while his brain still boiled, but then he froze when he remembered the girl he had met in the forest and the time the two of them had spent practicing in the forest. The blood in his head drained and he turned cold as his heartbeat started to slow down and his hand relaxed. But then he thought about it some more, and his thoughts turned back towards Sasuke and when it was the two of them bickering in the woods and racing each other up the trees. He thought about how he and Sasuke started to act like two normal human beings towards each other and started to get along. When he thought about his fallen comrade, the blood started to boil again and he almost reached for the last kunai strapped to his thigh. His thoughts turned from person to person and the temptation to reach for his weapon turned on and then off, again and again.

But then Naruto took a breath and thought about what he should do as opposed to whatever his instincts wanted him to do. He didn't want to kill Haku in the same manner as his teammate was killed, but at the same time, he didn't want to kill someone that he took the time to know. If he killed the kunoichi that welcomed death, it would haunt him for the rest of his life. But at the same time, he couldn't let her kill his teammate and then leave. He didn't know what to do, and his instincts battled each other for several agonizing minutes. Haku waited as she watched the blonde shinobi struggle, but she was patient. While she waited, Naruto tried to reach for his kunai one last time before he realized that he would not be able to bring himself to kill her. He feared that if he did, the damage to his soul would not be able to heal. It was his thoughts about Lord Voldemort and the method required to create of Horcruxes that forced him to toss out his thoughts about revenge and let the existence of his last weapon slide out of his mind. It was about at that point where Haku became impatient while she anticipated her demise.

"Please, Naruto-kun… You have to kill me now…"

The blonde preteen stared at the kunoichi in front of him before he withdrew his weapon and made it look like he was about to make a decision, even though he had made up his mind.

"What are you waiting for?"

When he moved, the black-haired kunoichi was prepared to die, but then she flinched when her opponent tossed the kunai in a weak fashion and let the blade slide across the floor and bounce when it hit her wooden-sandaled foot. Naruto looked up into her beautiful marble-white face and tried to reason with her in the most controlled manner possible.

"Ok…" he started out slow, "I understand why you care about and protect Zabuza… But this is too extreme. You cannot feel the need to die if you lose one battle. All it means is that you need to train more and work harder and become stronger… This isn't what has to be done… You shouldn't have to die, Haku. You can live through this…"

She then answered with a dead voice, "There is no other option…"

"Yes there is! Stop being so damn stubborn!" he shouted back as he lost a little control.

The kunoichi still insisted, "You have to be the one to kill me…"

"Haku…" he hesitated for a solid minute before he admitted to her, "I can't do it… I'm just a genin… I don't want to admit it, but that's all I am… I cannot kill, not now… I might have done it before on accident, but I'm still not experienced enough to end someone else's life with the true intention and I might not be able to for a long time to come…I won't become a killer… Even now that Sasuke is gone… I still don't think I can do it… I might not ever be able to forgive you for what happened to him, but that does not give me the right to kill someone else in cold blood… I can't do it…"

There was another minute of silence as Naruto watched Haku begin to break down and watched as tears began to flow down her angelus face and ruin her geisha-warrior makeup. The shinobi watched, as she never once let out even the softest of sobs as she continued to create a trail of tears that ran down each of her cheeks. She never let out a single noise or even choked as she imagined the horrid expression on her master's face if he saw her like this. She let out a stressful breath and tried to wipe her tears on her sleeve while she removed most of the makeup on her face so that she looked cleaner. Once she had calmed down enough, her tears slowed down their pace and she spoke again in the same voice as earlier, but this time she sounded more stressed and upset.

"I cannot bear to see the look on Zabuza's face if he sees me like this," she said calmly, "Useless… He can't see me as useless… I would rather die than have him see me as a failure to the purpose I swore to… He would never forgive me…" she then raised her voice and spoke with more strength and seriousness, "I have to end this with honor… You have to be the one to do it, Naruto-kun. I cannot face that level of failure, I just can't face it!"

The blonde shinobi took one more deep breath and answered, "Haku-chan… Please don't force me to do that…"

"This was inevitable, Naruto-kun…." she tried to convince him as she picked up the fallen kunai and offered it to him, "You are a shinobi, and in our world, the kill is required to fulfill the mission… Please strike me down, and become a true shinobi… There is no other possible outcome…"

He then shouted back at her and almost caused her to flinch, "Yes there is! There is so much more to life and being a shinobi than to die on a battlefield or as some weapon or tool… You're still a human being… You have the right to do whatever you want. You have a free will and no one can take that away…"

"But the assassination…"

He continued with a loud boom and a roar of passion in his voice, "_Forget the assassination!_ It's over! _The task to kill Tazuna was doomed from the moment I asked for this mission back at Konoha!_ With Kakashi-sensei here, our mission will not fail and Zabuza will not win. _If you want to keep true to your purpose and protect him, then you have to talk him out of this while there's still enough time!_"

Haku had twitched and her black iris's almost shined when she came to the same realization as the blonde preteen. The color soon returned to her face and her eyes shined with more life while she started to feel that she was not as broken and useless as she believed she had become. She could not believe that she never imagined that possible outcome. Though she still had several subtle doubts.

"You're his companion, not a slave," he reminded her, as he thought of his invisible older brother, "After all this time the two of you have spent traveling together… after all those months and years with no one to hold or rely on but each other… He must have developed enough feelings towards you to listen to reason… I don't believe that he sees you as just some weapon or a tool… When two people spend that much time together with no one else to care about, a bond must have been formed… Zabuza must feel something in his heart, as black or hollow, as it might seem, given his reputation… But deep down he must still feel enough for you to listen… You might be able to convince him to end this and move on to the next client… That does not mean that this is a failure… It's less than a minor setback compared to what else could have happened…"

Haku stared at the blonde student for almost two minutes while she thought over what he had told her. She thought about Zabuza and the chances that the blonde boy could be right about her master. She remembered back when she lost her pet rabbit and Zabuza searched for it and returned it to her. He might have held it at the ears and it whined once or twice, but he still returned it to her safe and sound and even smirked for one second under his mask. Seconds later, she remembered when he had touched her for the first time in the form of an almost affectionate pat on the tasseled head followed with the time he had first fashioned her signature hair bun and haircut and became a shinobi at last. She also remembered when he set out and chose the outfit she wore throughout all their adventures until this afternoon. Her thoughts swam around her beloved master until she looked back at the orange-clad blonde shinobi and cracked a small but true smile at him and the tiniest blush rose in her marble-white cheeks.

"You… You might be right…"

Naruto smiled back at her and replied, "I know I am, Haku-chan… No one else has to die… You can leave with Zabuza and go somewhere else while there's still time… It doesn't have to end with death and despair…"

The blonde preteen tried his best not to think about the fact that his teammate had been killed several minutes ago. So to feel better about his decision to let Haku be free, he thought about the number of other people that could be saved if Haku was successful and convinced Zabuza Momochi to throw in the towel with this assassination mission and move on with their lives and bodies intact. Naruto would be able to save the Land of Waves and all it's people. He also figured there could be a chance that Haku would take an example from this incident and lead Zabuza down a habit and a road of success that did not involve claiming innocent lives and perhaps abandon his original ambitions and search for a new purpose in life with her at his side.

"You two can still run…" he said with hesitation, "and live…"

Haku looked down at her feet and then down at her hands while she manipulated the moisture in the air. She thought about what she could do with her master and the path she could lead him down should she succeed in changing his mind here. She didn't think far from what Naruto had hoped, when she imagined her and Zabuza walking down an open road towards a series of mountains and misty forests while she and the man she admired did nothing but talk and avoid capture from Kiri shinobi.

She said with hope in her voice, "I can still run with him…" there was another moment of silence as she looked over and noticed the pale corpse behind the blonde preteen, "Naruto-kun… I'm so sorry about Sasuke-san… I acted on instinct… But I have to tell you that I didn't kill-"

"Don't remind me about it…" he said as he looked back at his motionless teammate, "But… He had a dream too… Sasuke had a future before this…"

But Haku looked like she wanted to tell him something important, like there was a wonderful secret behind the Uchiha's demise, "But that's the thing. All I did was hit his-"

"Forget about it…" the shinobi insisted as he faced her and reached out his hand towards her with a small smile of his own, "C'mon… We can end this… With our alliance, we can end this mindless fighting…"

* * *

><p>{{<em>The Fire Scene and the Coming of War by John Williams<em>}}

Back with Zabuza and Kakashi, the silver-haired man with the electrical energies in his wounded palm glared at the assassin while he prepared to strike. But he hesitated for one last moment. While the transformed chakra sparked inside and outside his wounded hand, the vibrations in his chest throbbed with pain while he hesitated and the slash on his chest oozed with more blood. Perhaps it was the amount of fluids he lost in this battle or perhaps it was out of sympathy, but he felt he should talk down to the assassin one last time. Give him one last short lecture. He didn't bother to clear his throat to collect himself and went right ahead into a short but sad conversation while he reminisced about his beloved deceased mentor.

"You know… Minato-sensei told me a lot of stories while I was a kid… He told me once that a shinobi could be damned in the afterlife, unless that shinobi can show remorse for his past sins at the last moment before their death… You can save your soul from damnation, if you can show one tinge of regret, Zabuza… Your choice…"

The wounded assassin grunted with a harsh voice, "Do I look like the kind of man that regrets his actions?"

"Yes… You do…" answered the masked shinobi as he examined the wounds as his trusted canines sank their teeth into the flesh of the assassin, "Last chance… What do you say?"

Zabuza then said, "If salvia could phase through solid cloth, I would spit on your feet, Kakashi Hatake…"

"That's a shame…" the masked man bent his legs and then he said, "Farewell, Zabuza…"

Kakashi then shifted his position and zoomed across the bridge at speeds too fast for even another shinobi at his own level could see. He turned into a dark and bright-blue blur through the mist as he reeled his arm back and prepared to thrust his fist right through Zabuza Momochi's throbbing heart.

* * *

><p>{{<em>The Fire Scene and the Coming of War by John Williams (continued)<em>}}

Haku smiled as she approached the blonde preteen and was about to outstretch her hand and unite with him.

But then she sensed a disturbance. It felt as if she had dove into a pool of ice water when she heard the voice of her beloved master let out a terrible scream. This was followed with a sharp noise that caused her to feel all the more alarmed. She then felt a shiver run down her spine as she stretched out her senses towards the location of her master. She sensed a massive amount of concentrated chakra was created and whatever or whoever created it was about to attack Zabuza.

The kunoichi remained as still as a statue until she focused her rare chakra to a level she never thought another human being could be able to achieve. It was like her entire life force was put into the effort she forced with all her remaining chakra when she formed a standard handsign and placed it in front of her face. Naruto twitched and was alarmed to see Haku make the sudden move and look like she was prepared to attack. She then closed her eyes and ran through a complicated series of handsigns and used her focused chakra to enhance her speed to a level where not even Harry would be able to see even with his enhanced senses.

She knew what was about to happen and she had to put a stop to it. She put her whole heart and soul into the following techniques she was about to perform, but she first looked over at Naruto with the same true smile she gave him earlier and she felt that she might not be able to see him again. So she spoke to him with a soft and warm voice, which contrasted to her normal voice that reminded him and those around her of ice. Her cheeks flushed with color when she thought back to their time in the forests and trees before she focused on the present time and saw Naruto with a confused and alarmed expression.

Naruto flinched when it looked like she was about to leave or make a sudden attack.

"What is it," he asked in a panic, "What's wrong?"

Haku then said to him, "I apologize… It seems… that I still have one last purpose to fulfill…"

"What?" he realized and then dashed toward her, "Wait!"

She smiled at him one last time and said with a warm voice, "Farewell, Naruto-kun… Please forgive me…"

In an instant, Haku used the last handsign and she was transformed into a form of a transparent vapor that blended into the environment like a charm. She then became mixed with the water molecules in the mist and vanished like she never even existed. Naruto reached out to where he knew she was a second earlier, but all he felt was moisture in the air at his fingertips. He let his mouth fall open a little bit and looked down at the kunai Haku held earlier when it fell down to the floor with a loud clatter. Naruto turned in all directions around him, his face turned as pale as a ghost before he shouted out in bedlam and desperation.

"HAKU-CHAN!"

* * *

><p>{{<em>The Fire Scene and the Coming of War by John Williams (continued again)<em>}}

Kakashi zoomed across the bridge with his right arm reeled back as he used his Sharingan to lock on to his target. He soared through the mist and made a clear path through it as the energies from the new technique, combined with his speed, blasted a clear tunnel through the environment. He let out a slow but loud warrior's roar as he ran towards Zabuza at top speeds. But as he soared towards him, Kakashi failed to notice as something strange happened the instant before he struck the final blow. He should have picked it up and avoided it, but it all moved too fast for even his advanced Sharingan to calculate. Zabuza didn't notice it either, until it was over and his heart was punched out of his chest in a more metaphoric sense.

The concrete close to Zabuza cracked open and released a clear column of moisture and cold air. It was a substance that was more substantial than vaporized water or mist, but it felt like a substance that was more similar to chakra. But at the same time, it was also so much different than chakra. The strange moisture was then manifested with the cold air and was transformed into a mirror made of solid ice in less than an instant. This new mirror was much thicker than the ones that were created and then blasted out of existence several minutes ago. This mirror was unique when the incredible amount of power that it radiated seemed to chill the air around it down to absolute zero, causing Zabuza's slow-motion breaths to become visible for one instant. The now-maskless kunoichi appeared inside the mirror for a fraction of a second before she vanished like she did when she would switch mirrors inside the ice chamber.

Zabuza's heart throbbed inside his chest until it hurt as he perspired out a sea of foul-smelling sweat. His face twitched and contorted with panic and fear as he tried to breath and watched Kakashi zoom towards him with the blade of lightning. Kakashi continued to let out his incredible, masculine roar at maximum volume as he reeled his arm back a little bit more and then thrust his fist into the chest of his nemesis, right through the warm beating heart he felt his electrified fingers breeze through and destroy.

There was a sudden flash of bright light and the impact released a large amount of tightly focused chakra once the technique blasted through solid human flesh and bone. There was a sudden sonic boom and a blast of air that spread out across the entire construction area. Sakura let out a scream and Tazuna flinched while Naruto looked toward the direction of the source of the sound with his face frozen with shock and fear.

'_What was that?_'

'_**I dunno… It almost sounded like… It almost sounded like a crack of lightning or something…**_'

'_I have to see what it was!_'

'_**Be cautious!**_'

Naruto sprint through the mist and noticed the kunai that was dropped earlier. He reached down low during his run and managed to whisk it into his hand and prepared for the unexpected while he ran towards the uncompleted end of the bridge, where he knew the others would be. Naruto and his companion noticed that the mist started to clear and that he could see the outlines of the various people that were scattered across the area. It was close to a construction area where he saw Kakashi and Zabuza around a clutter of inactive machines and stacks of solid steel columns. He couldn't make them both out well, so he continued his run towards the construction site until he could see both the men in their original colors again. The last of the mist around them seemed to vanish while the clouds Zabuza had created earlier remained until the winds decided to come in and bless them with clear skies again. Naruto could soon see the two men locked in place like wax sculptures and then he came to a stop. Once he could see the shinobi locked in place, he noticed a new figure was wedged in between them. The blonde preteen froze in place and felt like he had been dowsed with liquid nitrogen. His older brother in the mindscape saw it as well and he too froze as he felt the world become cold like a windless snowstorm.

'_**Oh dear lord, no…**_'

Naruto covered his mouth with his hands and felt his stomach twist and turn into knots as he felt the blood in his head drain until his face was as white as chalk.

'_No… No…_'

It was Haku.

She had sacrificed herself in order to protect her master from Kakashi's attack and keep the masked shinobi from advancing at the last possible moment.

But it had come with a price. She had a human hand shoved right through her chest with her back ribs bent outward through her back. Her heart was blasted into a million shredded pieces and her blood was splattered and spilled all around her and Zabuza as well, like she exploded from the inside. Her breastplate had been penetrated and her clothes around that region were shredded with the rest of her heart. More blood continued to spill out through the massive hole in her chest and splattered onto the floor to drench her wooden sandals. Kakashi looked shocked down to his core once he realized what had happened and found he was almost unable to move or even make a noise. Zabuza was shocked as well and couldn't find the will to speak or move, as he felt his apprentice's splattered blood run down his face. The hounds that had bound him all disappeared in explosions of white smoke as he noticed the scroll that bound them to the area had been penetrated with several ice-senbon that Haku had created and thrown in a pinch as opposed to avoiding the attack that doomed her. Zabuza still did not move even when he was free and felt the teeth of the canines vanish and relieve him. Instead, he shook in absolute shock and terror while Kakashi remained frozen once he realized whom he had struck. Naruto would have thrown up on the sight, had his invisible companion not tried to comfort him and patted his shoulders, but it did not help him much.

Kakashi was about to remove his stretched out arms from Haku but then he froze again when he realized that Haku had grabbed his arm in the flash to keep him from attacking Zabuza or herself but he was too strong. Haku looked at the masked shinobi and made an attempt to remove his arm from her chest and end the feud once and for all, but more and more blood oozed out from her mouth and prevented her from even speaking. As the blood continued to drain out in torrents, her lip trembled as she tried to remove Kakashi and hold on to her life at the same time. The mirror at her side, which was also splattered with her blood let out a loud crack and then collapsed into a hundred smaller pieces. Haku had used all of the chakra that remained inside her in order to attain the impossible speed and exactitude she needed to save her master from harm. As she felt the last droplet of chakra fade in turn with her life force, she tried to speak as she felt the world start to darken while her beautiful black eyes were still wide-open with shock and disbelief. Haku was unable to turn her head to face him, so she used her last breath to speak to her master one last time.

"Z-Z-Z-Z-Zabuza…" she stuttered through her lips but then her face softened as she let out one word that no one could hear but him, "… Father…"

With that last word, she was motionless, but did not falter or fall once the world had turned black to her. Her hands were still fixed around the shinobi's arm and her muscles were rigid and still, as if she had been petrified. Kakashi did not move or even breath as he felt the kunoichi fade and then she was no more. She still looked up at him with a blank expression apart from the smallest and most pure smile that had ever been seen on her bloodstained face.

"She…" he whispered to no one, "She's dead…"

Naruto tried his best to keep calm and resisted the urge to collapse in total defeat as he felt the weight of what happened fall upon him all at once. His teammate had died, and now Haku was gone as well. His companion continued to comfort him while the battle on the bridge ceased so that all the people involved could take one second to breath and take in the sight of this gruesome outcome.

The blonde shinobi let his shoulders fall and he said, "It didn't have to end like this…"

* * *

><p>To Be Continued…<p>

* * *

><p><strong>There we are. That's what made this chapter a bit more difficult to write. I'm sure a lot of people must be disappointed or upset with this decision. I don't like to write about tragedies, but it's essential to the direction I have in mind. Haku is in the next book (Chunin Exams), but it's clear that she isn't alive when she has her scene. Not to mention that her death is essential to shaping Naruto into finding his own path and creating his nindo.<strong>

**Naruto: That's true, man.**

**AZ44: I remember that in the manga.**

**Haku is a wonderful character and I love fics where she lives/moves to Konoha/travels abroad with Zabuza and lives, but this is not one of those stories, I'm afraid. That's what made this so hard for me to write. But those that are upset or disappointed will be surprised with a little Haku-gift when Team 7 starts their trip back home! X3 It's a little bit of a gift to give them hope!**

**Naruto: What is it? What's the surprise?**

**AZ44: Is it something that will make Haku come back to life?**

**Kvsyaoran: (smirks) I can't tell. Spoilers. **

**AZ44: Not fair!**

**The next chapter will conclude the battle and as I mentioned before, and then there will be two more to conclude the saga! Both are short chapters those last two. I will get to work on them at once now that it's summer! Be sure to check out Naruto: Lord of Time and give Azeroth44 some support! He should post his next chapter in a few weeks. His layout is done, he just needs to connect the dots and write it all out.**

**AZ44: You better have told them, or else I'll would have-**

**Kvsyaoran: Look it's the Space-Jockey from Prometheus.**

**AZ44: (runs out in search of the Engineers) WHERE? GIVE ME THE ANSWERS I SEEK, WISE ONES!**

**Kvsyaoran: (Smiles) No, wait. They just want to give you a baby Space-Squid!**

**AZ44: (runs in the opposite direction) AHHHHHH! GET AWAY FROM ME, PROMETHEUS!**

**Naruto: Prometheus?**

**Kvsyaoran: I liked it. Not a perfect prequel to the Alien franchise, but I could see some dots connected here and there between the two films. As a movie by itself and not thinking about its connection to Alien, Prometheus was quite good. Until next time, fellows! Later!**


	13. The Demon in the Snow

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura/Demonic Zabuza

'_Blah_': Naruto's thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

* * *

><p><strong>I'd like to make an announcement. <strong>

**This one is important. **

**Once I have finished Book 3, Naruto Uzumaki and the Chunin Exams, Book 5, Naruto Uzumaki and the Dark Path of Shinobi will be taken down at once. It will then be replaced with an improved version as soon as Book 4, Naruto Uzumaki and the Legendary Sannin, is posted and finished.**

**I am still in debate over this, so there will still be a lot of time until its gone. But if anyone wants to see it again once its been removed, feel free to contact me through private messaging and I will see what I can do. **

**But if Dark Path will be taken down, I want to make some changes here and there and make the story go down a different direction, which I feel will make it a lot better. It will still be dark and some scenes will be extended or changed here and there, but I feel it will be a whole lot more entertaining and magical, plus there will be a lot less crying and serious-drama, which I think will improve it.**

* * *

><p><strong>Now before we start the new chapter of the Assassin of the Mist, I want to warn the viewers that Gatō's death scene will be much more violent than it is in the manga as well as the anime. So please be prepared for lots of blood, slicing, severing, and stabbing. <strong>

**Thanks and enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted! I need some encouragement, folks!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto**

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling and Warner Bros**

* * *

><p>Chapter 13: The Demon in the Snow<p>

* * *

><p>The mist surrounding the bridge and the construction site started to fade.<p>

More and more of the metal and stone that surrounded the area was visible while at the same time, the shinobi, kunoichi, and the one civilian started to notice as the original colors of their clothes came into focus. The massive lifting machines and the columns of solid steel and various metals were now visible from a distance, though the direct ends of the massive structure were too far out in the distance to see, not even the forests or the shores of the various lands were visible at the moment.

While the mist cleared more and more, Sakura and Tazuna seemed to materialize out of thin air, as the other occupants of the bridge were oblivious to their sudden appearance. Sakura and Tazuna looked out ahead and saw Haku, wedged in between the two shinobi that she tried to stop from killing each other. The old man covered his mouth and nose when he saw her and smelled the blood, meanwhile Sakura almost smirked at what would appear to be a victorious sight, but then she paled and shivered when she saw all the blood spread out around the corpse. She too covered her mouth and nose when the smell reached her and she tried her best not to throw up.

Tazuna breathed, "It's that kunoichi in the mask…"

Naruto could not even move as he stared at the horrific sight in front of him. He clenched at the torn front of his shirt as he felt his heart begin to crumble and weaken. But then he looked up as he heard a chuckle emanate and echo across from him. It was Zabuza, after he had snapped out of his silence episode. The man looked through his deceased apprentice and looked towards the masked man that had failed to kill him again. The bandages on his face stretched and he let out a malevolent and wicked chuckle.

He smiled at his opponent and said, "It looks like you were wrong again, Kakashi. It looks like I'm still alive…"

The other man with the mask looked back at Zabuza and furrowed his brow at him as he noticed how unfazed and heartless he was even when his noble companion had been killed in front of him. He expected the assassin to have at least been outraged when he saw his apprentice die right there at his hand. But Zabuza didn't even seem to care as he continued to smile at Kakashi, which furthered his own rage and disgust towards him.

"She threw herself into the attack…" the masked shinobi said as he tried to remain calm, "She saved your worthless life at the cost of her own… You don't even care about that?"

Zabuza did not even answer him back. Instead he said one sentence that was void of almost all human emotion, "Well done, Haku…"

With that said, the heartless man reached back for his massive sword and used his own blood and chakra as an adhesive. The sudden movement alarmed all the people within the area, including the civilian and the other kunoichi that stood close to the steel columns and watched. Naruto and his own companion, in particular, were both shocked and appalled once the two realized what Zabuza intended to do as he reached back for his massive weapon. He was about to slice through his own apprentice's dead carcass so that he could kill Kakashi, even though his actual target was right behind him. Sakura pressed her fists close to her face and screamed out in terror while Tazuna stood next to her in watched. Zabuza then roared out in a furious voice that was a little different than it was earlier, like it almost sounded forced.

"IT LOOKS LIKE I FOUND A TREASURE WHEN I FOUND YOU, GIRL! GRANT ME ONE LAST WISH! BRING ME GLORIOUS CARNAGE!"

The sword-wielding man made a fatal mistake after he grasped his Kubikiribōchō. The assassin had hesitated for a fraction of a second. It was like he had been frozen for that one fraction of a second as his irises shined while he stared at the loosened white hair bun holder that he gifted to his apprentice. But soon, Zabuza was back in action and he continued to let out his roar while he grasped the handle of his sword to slice Kakashi and Haku down the middle. Once his sword had been thrust down and slammed into the uneven concrete, Kakashi had vanished with the dead teenager gathered in his arms. He reappeared about fifteen feet from his original position, where he crouched down low and removed his hand from the kunoichi's chest with one sudden movement with his arm. He noticed that Haku's hair bun had fallen in the rush and her gorgeous raven-hair flowed down her head. She would have looked stunning with her hair now loose and flowing down her torso, but she was dead, and that unnatural radiance had been wasted.

Kakashi felt it when the massive silver blade was slammed into the concrete, but he did not move for a moment as he stared down at the kunoichi. Naruto was motionless when he saw Zabuza slam his sword down and his face started to change. His whisker marks were made more noticeable while his face contorted and twisted with rage. He clenched his hands into fists and was moments from focusing his chakra down into his feet and sprinting at the shorthaired man to teach him a lesson.

'_Zabuza Momochi…_' he thought as his face started to twitch and his whole torso shook, '_YOU UNFORGIVABLE SCUMBAG-!_'

The blonde-haired preteen took one step forward, but then his teacher noticed his presence as well as his movements and boomed out at him to prevent his involvement in the battle.

He shouted at him out of concern, "NO! DON'T MOVE, NARUTO!"

Kakashi glanced down at the deceased adolescent in his arms as her own slender arms fell down to her sides, motionless. The masked man remained silent as he placed her down on the floor to rest in peace until she needed to be removed or buried much later. Kakashi looked down at her and noticed she looked like she was asleep now, ignoring the torrents of her own blood that were decorated all over her perfect marble-white face. She had been drained to the last several droplets of blood, leaving her skin an unnatural shade of white, like she wore makeup beneath all the blood she had lost to attain her new immortal shade. He then stared back at Zabuza and looked more determined than he had ever felt since the previous encounter with the assassin.

"Zabuza is mine…" he said with dark tone in his voice.

Sakura and Tazuna blinked at the same time when Kakashi warned his student and noticed the familiar blonde shinobi out in the distance. The pink-haired kunoichi had to squint once or twice and then she saw her teammate and was so relieved to see him she could have kissed him on the mouth.

"Naruto… Look! It's him!" she breathed.

The older man smiled, "He's alive…"

"Naruto!" she shouted, "Over here, Naruto!"

The blonde shinobi looked over at his other teammate and the client, while he seemed to start to calm down about what had happened. He was relieved to see Sakura and the old man safe, but that short bliss would last but several more seconds until the pink-haired kunoichi noticed that Sasuke was nowhere to be seen.

She screamed out, "You're alive! But where's Sasuke-kun? I can't see him! Where is he?"

He flinched, as her words seemed to stab his insides and cause him to turn as cold as he felt whilst inside the ice chamber. Naruto tried his best to be brave, but not matter how hard he tried, he started to flinch as he began to tear up and his breaths were turned fast and uneven while he tried his best not to start sobbing. Sakura could hear the noises her teammate made echo across the battlefield and she turned cold as well. It felt like all her blood had been drained as her face lost several shades of color until she looked as bloodless as Haku. She and Tazuna came to the same unfortunate conclusion at the sounds of Naruto's uneven breaths, and then turned subtle-sobs.

"No…" she breathed while she also shivered.

Kakashi took notice when he too heard Naruto's voice and looked crestfallen for one moment. Zabuza took the moment of silence to attack the masked man, so he raised his sword high above his head while he dashed towards the distracted shinobi and let out a foolish and furious roar. But the experienced soldier was prepared and used his incredible acrobatic skills to kick the man in the throat and cut his roar short in the middle. The two shinobi clashed for several moments while the world around the others seemed to slow down around them and turn cold, like it was a harsh and dismal winter.

{{_Ron Leaves by Alexandre Desplat_}}

Tazuna soon took Sakura's hand and spoke to her with an uncommon warm voice.

"C'mon… I'll take you to him," he said with that warm voice, "If I stick close, then you won't be disobeying your sensei's orders… I'm sure I'll be safe once we're out of their way…"

Sakura took the old man's hand and did not even have the voice to thank him while the two ran back towards the area where the ice dome was once located. The pink-haired kunoichi zoomed close to her other teammate while he felt his heart break even more as he tried to suppress the tears he knew he would burst into soon. Sakura and Tazuna did not stop until the two found the cracks and the remaining senbon needles scattered around the handsome corpse.

There he was, on his back with his arms stuck to his sides while his face hinted that he was in peace in his passing. Sasuke was as still as a statue, just like the kunoichi that had been killed several minutes earlier. Tazuna covered his mouth in shock when he noticed the water mixed with the blood all around the area. Meanwhile, Sakura stood next to him in astonishment while she stared down at her crush, bloodless, like a marble statue. Sakura stood there for a moment and then she approached the carcass and knelt down to the same level, her knees now dirtied with blood and water. She then brushed some of his hair out of his face and cupped his cheek with her hand and noticed that his skin was like ice.

"His skin is so cold…" she muttered; "Now I know this isn't an illusion… He's…"

Tazuna stared down at her with a pitiful face, "You don't have to be brave in front of me, Sakura… Let it all out… You shouldn't have to hold back your tears for my sake…"

"No…" she answered as her face started to redden, "It might not look like it much… but I had the best test scores out of all the kunoichi at school… Back then I memorized all the rules and regulations required to be a true shinobi and I wrote all of them down. All of them… There was one rule I wrote down and I still remember it even now…" the kunoichi hesitated and Tazuna saw fountains of tears roll down her face and land on the floor while she quoted through a sudden series of sobs, "N-n-n-no matter what happens… shinobi must never show their emotions… E-e-e-emotions lead to weakness… N-n-n-n-never shed a single tear… N-n-n-no matter what…"

Sakura couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence and collapsed on top of her crushes corpse. She then let out a miserable series of tears and sobs that caused Tazuna to start trembling while he watched the pink-haired girl let it all out in front of him.

"_S-S-S-Sasuke-kun… SASUKE-KUN!_" she sobbed out loud, "_N-no… Sasuke-kun! No… SASUKE-KUN-!_"

She cried and cried while the old man stared at her and resisted the subtle urge to leave her in peace to mourn. Tazuna could not believe that children at this age were taught such heartless regulations and were expected to die like this, even though he had heard that Konoha was one of the most controlled and civilized shinobi-run villages in the entire world. He never would have thought this would happen and had he known earlier, he would have never asked and pressured these three children and their instructor to protect him. He felt that Sasuke's demise was his fault, so he stood there and was prepared to comfort the preteen kunoichi should she need it soon. But for now, he stood close to her and waited until the time was right to remove her from the scene.

* * *

><p>Naruto Uzumaki and his invisible companion listened to his teammate while the sound of her intolerable sobs and screams echoed and reached the construction site. When the sounds reached his ears, Naruto clenched his t-shirt and tried to resist the urge to break down again while his companion tried to ignore it and aim his attention towards the battle that ensued between the other two shinobi.<p>

The two warriors continued to fight and duke it out with all their effort. Zabuza's movements were slowed down while more blood oozed from his wounds. Kakashi had turned cold and calculated when he heard the sobs from both his students and turned merciless while he struck and counter-attacked the assassin. Whenever the man approached him to swing his sword and slice him in two, Kakashi would slide backwards in time and then strike Zabuza in the face with the strength of over ten men. Zabuza became tired and tried to best to catch the shinobi and slice him, but no matter how hard he tried or how much chakra he used, he seemed to be several steps behind him as Kakashi used the attacks to his advantage.

"What's happening here?" he panted, "It shouldn't… be this hard… to hit him…"

Zabuza tried to sprint towards Kakashi as fast as he could, but once he was close enough to attack him, the masked man backhanded him. The trained killer was thrown back and coughed out a serious amount of blood and even one tooth, which slipped through his mask and fell onto the floor with a subtle clatter. Zabuza then tried to use his sword with his left arm, but then he discovered that Kakashi had thrust a kunai into the tendons in said arm. He looked down and watched as the arm swung back and forth, and then Zabuza realized that it was now rendered useless. He couldn't even move his fingers while he could still feel the fresh, warm blood run down his arm and dribble down the ends of his hands. The assassin let out another roar when he dashed towards Kakashi one more time.

"**SON OF A BITCH!**"

Zabuza Momochi raised his sword once he was close again, but when he struck the blade down, he struck the concrete so hard that the floor around him shattered outward and around him and almost formed a crater. But when the solid concrete broke and cracked around him, Zabuza did not move an inch when he felt the cold blade of a small blade press against his neck. Kakashi used his incredible speed to outmaneuver the assassin and then press a kunai against his neck and forced him to remain still. Zabuza did not dare to move his neck while he looked back toward the furious masked shinobi and saw him reach back for two more weapons.

"It's over…" he stated with a cold voice, "You should have given up while there was still a chance… I said it over and over again… You never listen, Zabuza…"

The shinobi from Konoha withdrew two more kunai and slipped the rings onto his pointer and wedding fingers while he let the blades spin in his hands like two loose shuriken. One second later, he took the two weapons in his hand and aimed them so that he would swing them right into Zabuza's throbbing heart. The soulless assassin looked shocked down to his core when Kakashi darkened his expression and reeled his arm back, prepared to stab him in the heart with one swift movement.

"But now it's too late…" he said with a dark tone, "It's the end of the line, scum…"

Kakashi thrust his arm around but then he held his breath when he noticed a flash in the other man's left iris. It was a last minute decision, but the assassin clenched his immense sword and swung it around him so that Kakashi would be taken down with him if he tried to stab him in the heart. The entire world seemed to slow down around them and their heartbeats were in synch as the two shinobi tried to the best of their abilities to kill each other. Naruto watched, first-hand, what it was like to become a true shinobi and what two of them would do to each other when the fight got as intense and desperate as it was right now. The world slowed down for him as well, as he watched his masked sensei duck down low and was forced to stab Zabuza's last unscathed arm with both the kunai. The blades sliced into his skin, muscle, and then bone like the tissues were made of warm butter and blasted out an enormous amount of blood through the other side. Kakashi then dodged the massive sword at the last second and reached back so that he could watch as the enormous blade collapsed onto the bridge while both of Zabuza's arms dangled at his sides, rendered useless.

{{_Procession by Alexandre Desplat_}}

"Both your arms are paralyzed," mocked the masked shinobi, "What to do now? You can't even weave handsigns, scum…"

Zabuza snarled at the other man but was silenced when he heard a small but audible noise echo from the incomplete end of the construction site. It sounded like an expensive set of leather shoes clapping against the concrete while a wooden cane tapped onto the floor at the same time. Kakashi's attention turned towards the source of the noise and both of them noticed a small man with a hideous face that almost resembled a fat little demon in human form or a goblin with small sunglasses and a suit. The small man wore an expensive dark business suit that matched his diminutive stature and carried a simple wooden cane as a fashion statement. Behind the goblin-like man there stood what appeared to be a massive mob comprised of repugnant criminals and bandits. All of them resembled different shapes and sizes with various colors, clothes, weapons, and faces. But all of them looked excited, aroused, and starved like a mass of hot and bothered bloodhounds. Naruto, Kakashi, Harry, and Zabuza all looked surprised and alarmed when the men arrived out of nowhere, but Zabuza look more surprised and frustrated than the others. The shinobi and wizards from the forest soon put the pieces together and realized whom it was that arrived with all these terrible men all of a sudden. It was Gatō, the ultra-successful and maniacal businessman that had caused all this loss and despair for all of them. Kakashi snarled at the man once he had recognized him but remained still and silent while he determined what had to be next. Naruto and his companion stared at the man and almost had to slap their own faces as both of them mistaken the man for a Gringotts goblin. But soon, both of them realized it must be a man, since he did not have all the characteristics that identified a goblin, and continued to stare him down once both of them realized what this man had done and was responsible for.

This small businessman was the same man that had executed Kaiza, and stole all the wealth and hopes these islanders once had. He had arrived in-person and brought all the guards and bandits that he had under his control, minus his three shinobi and the two samurai that were presumed to be dead. All of the other men that arrived had traveled in a large boat that was docked beneath the corner edge of the unfinished bridge. The boat must have had its engine shut down, which would explain its sudden and unexpected appearance. The small man that appeared to be the obvious leader of the mob tapped his cane down onto the concrete and smirked at the assassin that stood alone.

"So this is how it turns out…" said the authoritarian businessman, and then he mocked the shinobi he had hired with a comment about his condition, "You look like last night's sashimi, Zabuza… I have to admit that I'm disappointed."

"Gatō…" the masked criminal started with a frustrated voice, "I don't understand… What are you doing here and what are all these morons here for?"

The small businessman then answered his hire with a twisted and malicious smile; "There's been a slight change in the plan… You're going to die on this bridge and I'm going to watch… It's a shame I never had the chance to gather some booze and some popcorn before we had to leave, because this is going to be entertaining. I haven't had some fun like this since we did that execution here a while back!"

"What?" the hitman outraged.

Gatō's smirk stretched across his wicked face while he showed off his hideous teeth, "Ha! That's right! You're too expensive, Zabuza. You overpriced your services when I expected the job to be done and over with last week. So I've decided to make it easier for me and have you killed by these gentlemen behind me. That reminds me, these men here cost me a bundle, and so if you can abstain from taking down one or two of them in the shuffle that's to come, I think it would be appreciated…"

"You…" the failed assassin breathed, "You bastard…"

The small businessman mocked the injured man as he tapped his cane down against the concrete as he expected his entire entourage behind him to start laughing with him as he made fun of the assassin, "You think I can be intimidated by you now? You used to be called the Demon of the Hidden Mist? C'mon! Look at you! You're about as demonic as a wet kitten! C'mon! Am I right, folks?"

The bandits and thugs started to force their laughs out as their undersized leader roared and relished in his self-absorbance. The bandits then raised their weapons and shook them in the air while the rest of them started to boast about Zabuza's impending demise. The assassin furrowed his hairless brow at the crowds as well as the man that had forced him into his current corporeal and financial state. He was denied the cash that was promised to benefit his cause against Kirigakure and now he had lost his most efficient and reliable tool while the short, goblin-like little man laughed at him and rubbed it in his face. If that Zabuza had the feeling in his arms back, he would have clenched his hands into fists and pulsed his muscles until his arms burst. He had never been so humiliated and no one in the world that was not a shinobi ever dared to mock him like that. Zabuza now re-directed his rage from Kakashi to the man that had taken all he had left to hold on to his existence. He felt no desire to finish the task he was assigned with, so he threw in the towel like Kakashi advised and informed him of his resignation.

He said with a low and lost voice, "Kakashi… Since I am no longer under hire, I believe our quarrel is over with… Tazuna is now safe… I promise not to attack him… I suppose this settles our differences…"

"I suppose so…" the masked man agreed as he furrowed his own brow at the criminal businessman, "It would seem that neither of us has a reason to attack each another now…"

But the little man Gatō did not stop there when he said, "This reminds me… I have a little score to settle…."

The small man took notice of the deceased kunoichi that had died in the battle he missed out on and approached her scenic corpse. This action earned Naruto's attention out of all the shinobi and the bandits in the mob as Gatō stood right next to her face and stared down at her. He face twisted with a hideous frown as he remembered the incident where she almost crushed his arm when he tried to strangle Zabuza while he was bedridden and weak.

"This little bitch almost broke my arm last week…" he hesitated and then he smirked like he was a madman, "What better time will I have than now?"

Gatō took one more step forward and then he kicked Haku in the face. Whatever blood was in her mouth at the time was forced out her mouth and splattered onto the concrete while Gatō snickered like the goblin that he was and the shinobi that stood against Gatō seethed at his despicable and dishonorable actions. Kakashi was tempted to throw a kunai at his head and kill him now, but he resisted as he considered a possible retaliation from the moronic henchmen in the back. So he calmed down and itched his hand from his weapons pouch. But then the masked shinobi froze when he heard small but furious footsteps storm from behind him and heard his student let out a thunderous roar.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

Naruto was driven over the edge when he saw the corpse of the kunoichi become desecrated and stormed after the small man with the intent to kill him. But Kakashi reacted in time when he clenched the back of Naruto's shirt and tracksuit before he had a chance to enclose on the businessman.

"NO! Don't, Naruto!" he shouted.

The blonde shinobi tried to break free but his sensei was too strong, "LET ME AT HIM, SENSEI! LET ME AT HIM! HE DESERVES TO DIE!"

"Listen to me," the concerned shinobi pulled his student back and forced him to listen, "You'll be killed, Naruto. There are a lot of dangerous henchmen with weapons over there. You'll be massacred."

Naruto respected his sensei and did not move, but soon he snapped back at the one man that he expected to take action and shouted at him, "What are you just standing there for, Zabuza? That bastard desecrated Haku! You're not going to let him get away with that, right?"

The assassin did not move or even attempt to face the child that was addressed to him. He tried to move his arms one more time, but he was still unable to so much as move his fingers. He was silent while he looked out and stared into the distance. But in due time, he did answer the blonde child, though his voice lacked relatable human emotion.

"I don't care…" he said, "Haku is dead…"

Naruto's shoulders fell when the man's words sunk in and then he retaliated.

"YOU SHOULD CARE!" he shouted, "That fat bastard kicked her right in the face! She was your assistant! Your companion! She worked and traveled with you for years! She told me! You should be furious at Gatō!"

Zabuza soon answered him back while he still refused to face the child or even let him see covered face, "You don't understand the shinobi world, kid… Gatō used me… And in turn, I used Haku… That's our purpose in this life, to use or be used and complete the mission at all costs…" he hesitated and then he said in a heartless voice, "I never valued Haku for who she was. All I valued was her blood and the abilities she once possessed that I could use to whatever means I sought… That's all she was and all she ever will be to me… I apologize to no one…"

The blonde-haired shinobi could not believe what he heard. His face fell at once as Zabuza's word sank inside his stomach like solid lead. Naruto's face then heated in response while he was unable to form coherent sentences.

"How… how could," he hesitated and then asked him back to him, "After all that time together… and it meant nothing? Is that right?"

Kakashi reached out to his student and urged him to retreat close to him where it was safe, "Naruto, leave him alone. He's not our enemy anymore. It's over-"

"NO IT'S NOT!" he shouted back all of a sudden as his sensei's hand flinched back while his student pointed at the assassin, "AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, HE'S THE WORST ENEMY THERE IS! I'M NOT THROUGH WITH HIM! DO YOU HEAR ME, ZABUZA?"

Back at the crowd of criminals and henchmen, Gatō decided to look humorous or impressive in front of his men and chose the blonde shinobi in the distance to torment like a coward would do. So he pressed his cane down onto the concrete and motioned to his henchmen.

"Who the hell is this?" asked the small man and then he mocked the child in front of his mindless men, "That stupid kid doesn't even know his place."

Gatō started to laugh at the blonde preteen and his henchmen and bandits followed him in suit. But then Naruto heard their laughter and turned his head at them in a sharp motion. His sudden and unexpected rage towards those horrible men and their leader was more than enough to surface his magical powers and cause a particular charm to be cast upon them and Gatō. The charm forced them to shut their mouths and stare at the child in fear when he shouted at them.

"SHUT-UP!"

It was like a sound wave radiated from the preteen when he shouted those two words at the men. Gatō was affected the most when he felt like he was rooted to the floor and then drenched with cold water. The alien sensation struck fear into his black heart and he urinated his pants, but he failed to hide it in front of his entire silenced crowd as the henchmen saw a foul-smelling puddle form around Gatō's feet. Naruto then looked back at Zabuza once he was satisfied with the businessman's reversed humiliation. His furious emotions were focused back towards the crippled assassin, but he lowered his voice and controlled his emotions better while he continued to talk down to him.

{{_The Sixth Station by Joe Hisaishi_}}

"I don't believe that… not one word of it, Zabuza Momochi…" he stated, "Because I know what happens when two people spend that much time with no one to hold onto but each other… It doesn't take a genius to figure that out…" he said as he started to raise his voice with each new sentence, each with more passion and emotion than the last, "She told me all about you while we fought in the mist… You took her in… You were there for her and raised her, even if it was through teaching and ninjutsu… You still took her in and cared for her when she had nothing else to live for… You gave her a reason to exist, she said… And Haku, in turn, was the only person in this world that ever cared about you, Zabuza, no matter how much you sank into the criminal world. Haku was devoted to you until the end. She was prepared to die and did so without a second thought about it… You know, she told me how much you meant to her too…"

Naruto couldn't force back the tears that started to gather in his eyes. His vision blurred more and more, but he did not lose focus on his target as he remembered the sound in Haku's voice when she spoke about her Zabuza in the forest as well as in their most recent battles. Her feelings towards her master were obvious and true. The blonde child soon let out a subtle sob as he remembered her words and her utter devotion towards her master that went beyond the normal student-master connection. It made him sick to his stomach to see her master and father figure return her devotion and love towards him with little to no human emotion or even respect. Naruto snarled at the heartless man as more tears rolled down his face and snot started to flood into his nostrils and his face reddened with anger and sorrow. Zabuza did not move or even react as the child cried and continued to throw more words at his greatest opponent to date.

"She loved you, Zabuza Momochi," he said with a soft but broken voice and then he found more strength as the waterworks continued, "She loved you like a daughter would love a father. She died and not one of her dreams ever came true! Not one of them!"

The masked shinobi next to Naruto felt his student's word touch his heart and watched in astonishment and awe as the child shouted at the assassin while his face was wet with tears.

"SHE GAVE UP HER LIFE FOR YOU! SHE DIED AS A TOOL WHEN SHE SHOULD HAVE LIVED AS A HUMAN BEING! With her master at her side and a hand on her shoulder… She died as a tool and you don't even care about that?"

Naruto waited for the man to react or so much as express the smallest remorse, but it never came. The blonde preteen then shouted back at the assassin with more tears that rolled and flowed down his heartbroken face.

"ARE YOU REALLY THAT HEARTLESS? ARE YOU REALLY SO DETACHED FROM THE REST OF US THAT YOU'VE BECOME THIS DEMON? SHE GAVE UP HER LIFE FOR YOU! SHE DIED AND THIS IS HOW YOU THANK HER? HOW YOU RETURN HER DEVOTION AND LOVE?"

Naruto couldn't continue and broke down in an uncontrollable series of tears and sobs. He couldn't help it, so he let it all out even in front of his superior, not that he could blame him as he watched. Naruto could feel his brother comfort him with his magical touch, holding his shoulders and forcing him to stand while he sobbed and cried for those that had lost their lives this battle, with or without cause.

"It's too much… I can't take it…" he confessed between sobs, "T-That's too cruel… I-I can't accept that…"

While the blonde child cried, he heard the assassin address him with his name for the first and last time, "Naruto…"

The small blonde shinobi was silenced as he looked into the assassin's face and watched him turn his head enough to see the smallest stream of clear tears roll down his face. The man had cried and his once small and cold eyes were flooded with raw human emotion. His voice sounded broken and lost, like he had been sobbing for hours. Kakashi was in shock at the sight, but could not express it while he stared at the man that he was sure was doomed until he was transformed through simple sentences and words. Zabuza looked back at the small blonde shinobi and let another stream of tears roll down his cheeks as the child looked up at him with surprise and shock of his own.

"Not… another word… Please, no more…"

Naruto straightened out as he cleaned his own face with his sleeve and continued to stare at the man whose heart he had touched.

"Your words cut me deep, kid… much deeper than any blade," he said as he admitted defeat, "In truth…Haku broke her own heart when she decided to fight in this battle… She could never do what I wanted when I was serious and had to finish each kill… She was too kind… she was too gentle to kill another again… I could never force her to take another life, even if I ordered her to…"

The child started but soon he stopped, "Zabuza…"

"I'm glad that my last battle was against you, kid," the man admitted to the child, "You were right…"

Naruto watched as the man bit down at his own mask and tore through it with his teeth until all the white cloth and bandages fell onto the floor and revealed his face and teeth to both the blonde student and his silent teacher. The blonde shinobi was surprised to see that Zabuza's teeth were razor-sharp like a monster but were also as white as solid marble. His teeth were similar to the three shinobi that Naruto had encountered on several occasions while he had been on this mission.

"You were right about Haku and about me as well… We might be called shinobi, but in the end we're still human… We still have emotions and our hearts can still break… Mine is now broken for good… I've lost it all… But there's still something I can do… Just one more thing to do before I die…"

He turned to look back at the child and stared at his disorientated face as he smiled and showed off his incredible teeth. Naruto stared at him and then the man beckoned to him.

"Please… could I borrow that kunai?" he asked as he noticed the weapon, "It's all I'll need… Trust me…"

Naruto was hesitant but soon he withdrew the blade that Haku wanted him to use to end her life and stared at the reflection. The blonde shinobi looked at the man through the reflection and then at Haku's carcass. Soon the blonde child tossed the kunai into the air, unsure that Zabuza would even be able to use it without his arms or hands. Still, he watched as the blade spun in the air and floated toward the assassin, expecting the weapon to clatter onto the concrete in a second.

"Here…" he said back to him.

Whatever happened next all happened too fast for Naruto or even Kakashi to see with his Sharingan, but it had happened.

* * *

><p>{{<em>Oscorp Tower by James Horner<em>}}

Zabuza had shifted and in a flash, he clenched the handle of the blade with his teeth and dashed towards Gatō so fast that he turned into a black blur. It should not have been possible with whatever amount of chakra he had left from his last battle to move with such incredible swiftness. Gatō reacted at once when he let out a scream and retreated back into his crowd out of complete cowardice. He shouted at his henchmen as he retreated towards the boat and was prepared to abandon his men to deal with the demon and save his own skin.

"THAT'S ENOUGH OF THIS!" he screamed, "DO IT! TAKE HIM DOWN NOW!"

The moronic henchmen smirked and sneered as all of them were prepared to fight what was assumed to be an undermined shinobi. None of the men were prepared as they boasted and laughed as the shinobi zoomed towards them at speeds none of them were able to comprehend. The first three henchmen and bandits that stood at the frontlines were dead before either one of them could even hit the concrete. Zabuza had used the kunai in his mouth and sliced their throats so deep, that their spines were severed, though none of them were decapitated. The rest of the men behind the frontlines were blinded as the blood of their allies was shot into their faces and clothes. Zabuza took down all of the men that stood in his path, slicing through their flesh and bones like fresh meat. One of two bandits that were fortunate enough to see the man and then wounded him, although none of them were able to land a blow that was enough to kill him. All it did was slow him down enough for the other henchmen to see him as he soared above their heads and continued to run towards Gatō.

Naruto could see Zabuza was wounded and then he noticed that Gatō was about to make an escape. He didn't know what is was inside him that clicked, but he felt the sudden urge to aid the trained killer, though he knew that if he did, he risked exposing his magical talents to his sensei. He glanced over at his masked teacher for a fraction of a second and realized there was one particular henchman that decided to attack the wrong target and started to dash towards an oblivious Kakashi. Naruto pointed at the man and then shouted to warn his mentor.

"Sensei! Watch out!"

Kakashi turned to the man in time and reached back for a kunai to throw out of self-defense. While his teacher was distracted with the henchman, Naruto took what little time he had and aimed his fingers at the man that had terrorized and demoralized the innocent people of the Land of Waves. The blonde wizard reached into his subconscious and asked his older brother for help. The invisible wizard then instructed Naruto to aim and click while he assured him that he would take care of the rest. Once he could feel the magical energies flood into his arm and heat his hand, Naruto aimed at the small man out in the distance and mumbled so that no one could hear him.

"This is for Kaiza…"

Naruto reached out his hand and through his will alone, his magical energies took into effect at the instant he snapped his fingers. There was a sudden sound wave released in the direction of the end of the bridge that did not effect the humans it touched until it reach one particular man that ran. Gatō tried to run as fast as he could and stumbled several times until he made one last break for it. He felt that he would make it back to the boat in time, until he felt his feet begin to trip again, but this time it felt like his shoes were made of steel. He looked down at his feet and realized in horror that the cement that was once solid concrete seconds ago had turned into hot, melted rubber that glued his feet down into it. The expensive shoes he used to defile Haku's remains were ruined in seconds when the black leather started to melt and he splashed more and more melted rubber over the rest of his shoes, as well as his pants and expensive suit.

"W-WHAT IS THIS?"

The man let out a scream of terror as he felt the rubber burn his ankles and sear his flesh. He used his cane to continue towards the boat, but then another invisible wave hit him and the cane he used to escape was consumed into the hot molten mass and broke in his hand when he tried to withdraw it. So he threw the remains to the side and into the ocean as he panicked. Gatō then let out another scream and broke free from the molten mess and burst out of his ruined shoes. The goblin-like man fell onto his knees and started to crawl in the most pathetic flaunt of cowardice ever seen while he tried to scramble to his feet. He let out another horrified scream when he heard Zabuza approach him through the slaughtered crowds of thugs and could hear the sounds of their blood spill onto the bridge he had sought to keep from being built. The concrete then returned to its original state from the moment Zabuza Momochi approached it and zoomed towards the man that defiled his deceased daughter and ran across it with the shoes and cane vanished beneath a thick sheet of solidified cement.

"No! No! No! No! NO! GET AWAY FROM ME! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Gatō tried to run without his shoes on, but he was still sluggish compared to the speed of a shinobi. He wasn't able to run more than three feet when Zabuza crossed the distance between them. The delicate businessman turned in the middle of his run at the last minute and he saw the face of true demon emerge from the face of the man that he feared. He froze in the middle of his final run and could have sworn that he saw the face of the same demon that had tormented and claimed countless souls and victims, innocent or otherwise. Gatō couldn't help it as he felt the blood drain from his face and the sweat beat down his torso and then it was all too late for him. Gatō screamed when he felt the cold blade of the kunai penetrate his skin and puncture his right shoulder blade. Zabuza plunged the blade deep inside him but then he withdrew it with his mouth and turned the blade between his teeth and made an elegant slice into the air. With that sudden movement, the side of Gatō's throat was sliced wide open with the kunai and released a fountain of blood that was blasted into the air and drenched the floor and the untouched concrete around him. His first scream was cut short when the blade cut his throat, but when he tried to release a second one, it failed, as the shock took him over. He would have screamed into the heavens at the sight of his own blood, but it was too much to overcome.

Zabuza did not hesitate as he attacked the goblin again and again and he encircled him in a stunning dance of death; each time he encircled the small man, he chose a different vital location to slice, stab, or severe so that Gatō would be in the most horrific experience he could condemn him to and keep him alive while he killed him. He went over the list in his mind and growled out the names of the targets he attacked, the same targets he would have been forced to focus on had he decided to kill Tazuna instead. As a matter of fact, he had announced these names when he and Kakashi first clashed in the forest the previous week. Zabuza sliced the other side of Gatō's throat, cut open his most vital veins, stabbed his deteriorated liver from alcoholism, punctured both his worn-out kidneys, and stabbed his spinal column in the right place so that he was frozen where he stood but could still feel the pain and even make noises while he suffered and bled. Zabuza then took the kunai in his mouth and stabbed Gatō right in the heart and penetrated one of his lungs before he stopped and stared at him right in the face.

"That was fun," he whispered to the small businessman, "We should do it again sometime…"

But several seconds later, ten henchmen that survived the bloodbath stabbed their weapons into Zabuza's back. The dark-skinned assassin, turned human-butcher, felt all of the weapons penetrate his skin and slice into his muscles and vital organs. But he did not flinch or even move until he was forced to when the weight of all the men combined piled on him as one of them lodged a spear into his left shoulder blade. Zabuza resisted the urge to roar out in pain and remained silent while he could feel more of his own blood ooze out and make him feel cold like stone.

"You'll never be with her again…" said the pathetic businessman as he bled, "You will not go to the same place she is now… You will never be able to join her, Zabuza… You will die knowing that, you demon…"

Zabuza then started to chuckle and then he smiled at the small man while he stared into his face and his hideous breath brushed his hair back, "Neither will the little Gatō here… You think after all that crime and murder wouldn't pay once the time was used up… C'mon this was a matter of time… Besides… I know I'm not going to heaven with her. I never had the intention, nor did I have the chance… I was born with an impure soul… But that doesn't mean I can't go out with a bang…"

"W-What," stuttered the little Gatō, "W-What a-are y-you talking about?"

The assassin's face twisted with delight as his smile stretched across his face and Gatō's nostrils were inundated with the foul breath of a demonic man.

The devilish man mocked the small businessman as he relished in his fear and listened to him as he continued to urinate and bleed in front of him, "I'm going to take you with me… We're going down together, Gatō… I have nothing left to live for in this world, so let's have some fun in the afterlife… I hear there are demons down where we're going… Down there, we'll find demons that are far worse than I am here… There will be all sorts of monsters and demons down there, of all shapes and sizes… I should fit right in… But you won't last a second, Gatō. You're about as demonic as a wet kitten… You called me that a minute ago, right?" he mocked one more time, "You couldn't even imagine the amount of pain and torment you'll be forced to endure at our hands… but we're going to love each and every last second of it…"

Zabuza made one more sudden movement when he used whatever chakra he had left and used it to turn into a blur that forced the men that attacked him to retreat back into the mob and watch as the assassin annihilated their boss and let out one last intense roar.

"**Gatō… I'LL SEE YOU IN HELL!**"

He then took the kunai in his mouth while Gatō released one more intense and terrified scream before the life was snatched right out of him. Zabuza used his intense speed and the blade in his mouth to slice right through the skin, muscle, fat, and bones inside Gatō's neck and decapitated him with one clean cut. The henchmen watched as the businessman's head soared high into the air while his headless corpse collapsed onto the concrete and fell into the ocean to rot and be eaten. There was a loud splash and then there was silence as all the people that had seen the horrific death were frozen where all of them stood. The decapitated head landed right in the middle of the mob as the numerous henchmen and bandits stared at the frozen expression on Gatō's terrified and lifeless face. The men retreated from the head and then stared at the man that had killed him.

Zabuza faced the massive crowd and then stared at them while he also released an inhuman snarl and then one last massive wave of killer-intent. The men flinched and retreated from the man and even stood to the side so that he had a clear view of Kakashi, Naruto, and his precious Haku. He started to march through the mob like a zombie, but soon he stood still as he let the blade slide out his mouth and a stream of blood followed the blade that he used to avenge his faithful assistant. He almost tripped once and then twice when he tried to walk again, but he had lost too much blood. Zabuza lost his central balance and so he stumbled and then he fell while he thought about Haku, like he could speak to her one more time, this time through his thoughts while he collapsed.

'_Haku… my little Haku-chan… I never once thanked or even appreciated you for all you've done for me… not once… I'm so sorry… Please forgive me, Haku-chan… I'm so sorry…_'

* * *

><p>{{<em>E.T. Is Alive by John Williams<em>}}

Naruto and his teacher stared at the incredible and horrid scene in silence, even after it was over.

Kakashi did not seem too bothered or disturbed when he saw his intense rival almost embraced certain suicide and couldn't help it as he watched Gatō be assassinated like he was. He knew it was harsh to watch someone die like that and feel entertained, but the little monster deserved it. When it came back to Zabuza, the masked man wasn't unfamiliar with situations like this where shinobi die in order to accomplish their mission. But he was certain that this was his student's first time, and that it must have bothered or disturbed him. Naruto had never seen so much desperation and so much violence in his life, so it was understandable to see him want to turn his attention somewhere else. He tried to look down at his feet, but then his teacher beckoned to him while he stared at the area where Gatō's disembodied head was located and Zabuza's carcass.

"Don't turn from this, Naruto," he said as he served as his mentor, "When someone lives like he does, this is how it ends… Never ever forget that…"

The blonde preteen tried his best to listen to his sensei and stared at the hideous mess until his stomach couldn't turn into knots. He had to take it in as he was told, and once he accepted and absorbed his mentor's words, he nodded at the scene, his face still bothered while he felt a little bit more worried about his own future. But even still, he had his older brother next to him to rub his shoulder to ease him.

Naruto then answered his teacher with, "Yeah… I understand, sensei."

* * *

><p>{{<em>E.T. Is Alive by John Williams (continued)<em>}}

There was a soft drum-like noise that beat over and over inside his wounded chest, whereas he was surrounded with silence and darkness. The black-haired teen listened as it sounded like he could listen to the sound of a heartbeat, over and over again. The subtle sound, as muscles and blood pulsed inside his chest, throbbed inside his eardrums. But each time he heard it, it sounded louder and stronger until it almost hurt his head. But soon, another sound was heard, and this time, it sounded like someone cried. Sasuke Uchiha tried to listen in and figure out whose voice it was, and soon his vision returned to him and he could see clouds and blue skies that were darkened with little mist. His vision was blurred to the extreme, but soon, he looked down his chest and saw several senbon needles still stuck inside his neck and chest. When his vision sharpened, he could see Tazuna and then he identified the voice when he observed a familiar length of bubblegum-pink hair collapsed on top his chest while fair-skinned hands clenched his shirt. Sasuke's heart beat faster and soon he was able to breathe again as he tried to form words and solid sentences.

"S-S-Sakura… It's kinda hard to breathe like this…" he said as he tried to breathe.

The inexperienced kunoichi sat up at once and looked down and stared at Sasuke. She didn't notice it as his chest rose and fell, and she failed to listen to his heart as it beat strong inside his chest again. His blood started to move through his cardiovascular system and color returned to his face, though he was still more pale than usual since he had lost a lot of blood. Sakura couldn't even breathe or move when she listened to his handsome voice and he stared at her with a tired, but relieved expression on his bloodstained face. Tazuna stared down at him in shock, as he couldn't believe that Sasuke had returned to life. He was so certain that he was dead. The old man would have and should have noticed it. Sakura soon broke down as another stream of fresh tears rolled down her face and she smiled at her number one crush.

"Tazuna… He's alive… HE'S ALIVE!" she said and then she tackled him and embraced the teen without another hesitation, "SASUKE-KUN! YOU'RE ALIVE! SASUKE-KUN!"

Sasuke flinched and grimaced as his teammate wrapped her arms around him and he mumbled while she cried her heart out, "Sakura… that hurts… so much right now… You have no idea…"

The old man smiled at the scene and removed his glasses so that he could clean his face from the tears that had formed and watched the two teammates reunite. Tazuna watched as Sasuke tried to sit on his own, water mixed with his blood dripping down his ruined blue t-shirt while Sakura urged him to relax and not move as she noticed a lot of the needles were still lodged inside his limbs and torso. But Sasuke didn't listen to her as he was determined to catch up with what had happened while his teammate checked over his wounds and worried about him.

"Where's Naruto," he asked, "And what happened to that kunoichi from earlier?"

Sakura looked a little confused and then she answered him, "Well… I think he's fine. It looked like he's been healed… But… the one in the mask… she's dead…"

"What," the Uchiha looked surprised and shocked, "How? Naruto didn't do it, did he?"

The pink-haired menace answered her crush and soon turned back into another fangirl, "Well… I don't think so… I can't remember much about what happened. Tazuna and I were lost in the mist for a while… But all I know is that she died to protect Zabuza… But still, this is a miracle! No, it's incredible! I knew it! I knew you would come out on top! You're too cute to die, Sasuke-kun! Heh! Oh! Hold on a second! I have to let the others know!"

While Sakura stood to shout out to the other members of the team, Sasuke stared at the deceased remains of the kunoichi that terrorized him and his other teammate and came to a realization that Sakura and Tazuna were unable to understand or come to. He felt that Haku never had the intention to kill either him or Naruto, ever since their battle started. She had the abilities to kill them both without a moment's trouble, but she did not do it when she had the chance. This was later confirmed from the moment when Sasuke was resurrected and he looked down at the needles that were still inside his neck. The Uchiha realized that she had struck him in the same places she struck Zabuza in order to save his life in the previous battle at the lake. He was forced into the same illusion that made it appear that he was dead. Once he was awake, he was certain that Haku never wanted to kill them and that she held back her true strength. While he was thankful that he was alive and well, Sasuke couldn't help but feel insulted. Because this meant that he was so much weaker than the kunoichi in the mask and would never be able to defeat her on his own terms now that she was deceased. While he sulked over his defeat, he tried to stand on his own two feet as Tazuna tried to assist him.

The kunoichi close to them shouted with excitement and happiness, "NARUTO! HE'S ALIVE! Sasuke-kun is alive! LOOK OVER HERE!"

The blonde shinobi turned rigid at the sound of his teammate's voice and then he his face froze once he took in what she shouted about. He turned around and noticed the wide-collar blue t-shirt in an instant. He stared at his teammate in utter astonishment and almost started to break down in tears when he saw the Uchiha raise his arm and hide his face with his dark hair. Sasuke tried to hide his obvious embarrassment when he remembered what he had said to his teammate when he thought he was doomed. Tazuna smiled back at the blonde shinobi and Sakura started to laugh in celebration when she saw her blonde teammate smile back and even noticed their sensei smiled as he was overcome with relief at seeing all three of his students come out alive.

Naruto soon looked back at Haku, when he was confused that his teammate was even alive. It didn't make sense until he stared at her scenic marble face. It was then that he remembered what Zabuza told him earlier about his apprentice. Naruto soon came to the same conclusion as his teammate and let the tears roll down his face as he stared at Haku and he smiled at her in thanks.

'_That's what she tried to tell me earlier… She didn't kill him… It was an illusion the whole time… I really do talk too much sometimes…_'

'_**Sometimes the world needs at least one motor-mouth, Naruto…**_' said his companion as he thought about Hermione, and then he turned back to Sasuke's resurrection, '_**But, what a miracle… I never would have guessed that Haku pulled that same trick on us again. I should have noticed it right then and there…**_'

Kakashi smiled at the scene with his students and then he sighed, "Well, won't wonders never cease… Incredible…"

* * *

><p>{{<em>Lizard At School! by James Horner<em>}}

But soon the celebrations were cut short when a metallic thud was heard from the massive mob of henchmen that survived the bloodbath. One of the men that wore red warrior makeup over his face assumed to be the new leader with the violent demise of their boss. The lone man pointed at and boasted to the shinobi with a loud and obnoxious voice with countless others behind him to back him up with their massive numbers.

"HEY! DON'T GET TOO COMFORTABLE! THIS ISN'T OVER YET! NOW THAT GATŌ IS GONE, WHO'S GONNA PAY US AND SETTLE OUR MEAL TICKETS? THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL WE'RE LEAVING EMPTY-HANDED! LET'S KILL THE SHINOBI, RAID THE VILLAGE, AND SEE WHAT'S THERE TO TAKE!"

"ALRIGHT!"

"YEAH!"

"C'MON!"

"LET'S DO IT!"

Naruto and Kakashi stared at the men and realized, as all of them licked their lips and reached for their weapons, that the idea of a raid and some bloodshed was too much for the moronic henchmen to resist. The scene was reminiscent to the Snatchers that were involved in the Battle of Hogwarts before all of the various men were killed from the protective enchantments and the bombs that Neville Longbottom set on the Covered Bridge. The small blonde shinobi would not have been too worried about this new predicament, but this wasn't inside the Pensieve or in some dream, this was real and he had no idea how to fight all these men unless he used his magical powers, as weak as his spells and curses were without a wand to channel them with. Naruto and his sensei looked alarmed and worried as the henchmen rumbled with excitement and a thirst for ultra violence.

Naruto turned to his brave teacher and beseeched, "Sensei, please tell me there's a jutsu you know that can wipe out these idiots."

"I'm afraid not, at the moment. I used too much chakra earlier. I'm exhausted," he answered him back.

"That's not good," the blonde shinobi stated and then he asked in a comical panic, "Where's the Hokage when you need him?"

It was at this time that the men's excitement was intensified to its maximum and the sounds of their voices almost deafened the shinobi. The intense rumble and excitement from the former henchmen increased more and more and then the new leader roared out and aimed his blade towards the land as he commanded the rest of the men into battle.

"LET'S GET 'EM, BOYS! ATTACK!"

Naruto and Kakashi were unable to move or even act to defend themselves as the massive mob marched toward them. But then out of nowhere, a thin silver rod with a solid black arrowhead was struck into the concrete seconds before the man in the front came close to Haku's carcass. All the henchmen and bandits froze when the weapon fell out from the heavens and the two shinobi looked behind them and stared in silence. Tazuna, Sakura, and Sasuke also looked back to see a massive gathering of what was assumed to be all the able-bodied citizens of the Land of Waves, holding various weapons that included pots, pans, harpoons, blades, cleavers, swords, and even crossbows. All the construction workers and carpenters that started the construction but withdrew involvement out of cowardice were there in the mob with their hardhats on and weapons drawn. The man that Tazuna dismissed earlier that week, the one named Giichi, had joined in the rebellion as well and stood his ground with the rest of the civilians. There were men, women, and even children of all ages and sizes with their faces hardened and furious with defiance. But the one citizen that led the massive force was a small child that wore a bravest and most hardened face of all. Little Inari had arrived to fight and must have rounded all the citizens of the entire town. The child wore a hardhat like the other construction workers, as it turned out that he was the one that fired the first shot that caused the entire mob the halt.

Someone else in the mob that outnumbered the bandits shouted out at them, "Not another move! You take one more step towards our land and it will be the last!"

"THAT'S RIGHT!" shouted little Inari with a defiant voice with his mother alive at his side.

Naruto stared at the small child as did the others and he smiled, "INARI! You did this?"

"You said it, aniki," the child answered as he smiled with the crossbow in his arms, "Heroes tend to arrive at the last minute, right?"

Tazuna was almost reduced to tears as he saw his grandchild and the countless faces of the citizens were transformed into fearless warriors, prepared to fight for their freedom and their town. He was so certain that his friends and comrades were lost to cowardice and darkness while he thought for the longest time that he stood alone in his noble cause. He smiled at his friends and all his workers that had returned to fight and then he looked back at the bandits that remained, noticing the looks of nervousness and intimidation on their faces. The bandits and thieves all stood still and started to sweat a little as the civilians raised their blades and shovels while others aimed their crossbows at them and marched towards them. Tazuna even noticed as one of the construction workers he once dismissed, Giichi, clambered into the massive machine that was used to hull massive columns of solid steel and used the machine and a steel column to intimidate the dark forces even more and it worked. He used the massive machine to swing the steel back and forth, and then released it so that it crashed onto the concrete, between the arrow that Inari launched and the mob with a loud metallic thud.

Tazuna shouted as he noticed the action, "Giichi! What in the world are you doing?"

"Construction work, boss," he shouted back as saluted to his former boss and prepared to launch another column.

The old man smiled and shouted back, "You're an insane man! And I love it!"

Naruto smiled as well and then he realized that it was weapons and numbers that intimidated the thieves as he noticed their faces pale and sweat while other retreated back into the boat at the end of the construction site. When he noticed ten or so more men retreat back into the boat, Naruto decided to help in the effort when he placed his hands together and formed his most used handsign and tried to focus his chakra. He hesitated once he realized that he did not have much left to waste and scare the henchmen, so he was forced to resort to his alternate source.

He still tried to look confidant as he said to his sensei as well as his older brother, "This gives me an idea…"

'_**Need some help, Little one?**_ _**You will need more chakra or even some magic to fuel that jutsu.**_"

The small blonde shinobi answered him with a banter tone in his voice, '_Yes, please, Nii-san._'

Naruto waited and smiled as he felt the energies swell inside him and then he focused them to create enough shadow clones to scare the henchmen some more. The air around him breezed, which caused his hair to be raised, and then he released his chakra to created four clouds of smoke and revealed four shadows clones.

"_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_" he had shouted as his clones looked ready to attack.

The henchmen were all the more intimidated when Naruto multiplied and then his idea was passed down to his teacher. Kakashi tried to determine how much chakra he had in him and smiled behind his mask as he placed his hands together and made the exact same handsign as his student.

'_Well… I might have enough chakra to help a little bit… But let's see,_' he thought and then he shouted with as much strength as he could, "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU! KAKASHI-STYLE!"

The entire construction site was then flooded with white smoke that, once cleared, revealed an entire militia of bloodied and silver-haired shinobi that wore masks over all their hardened faces. Kakashi consumed the entire structure as he used mental commands to tell his forces to crack their knuckles and intimidate the henchmen until all of them shouted and screamed in shock and terror. The men shivered in their shoes and Naruto listened as most of them let their swords and various blades fall and clatter. The blonde child smiled in admiration towards his sensei while his hidden older brother seemed a little bit irritated that the silver-haired men stole the show from his little brother. But Harry was just being a little bit comical, he did not hold it against the man as he watched as several of the henchmen in the front-lines turned bloodless and urinated.

Kakashi and his shadow clones addressed the henchmen all at once and said with sinister voices, "_Now then. You still wanna fight or what?_"

The henchmen retreated as one towards the boat as all of them screamed and shouted in complete spinelessness.

"NO THANKS!"

"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!"

"SCREW THIS!"

"EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF!"

"SAVE ME, CTHULHU!"

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

"SAVE ME!"

"I DON'T WANNA DIE!"

The bandits and henchmen all retreated back to the boat, but with their massive numbers and their lack of communication and patience, most of them fell into the ocean to be taken with the current, drown, eaten, or in some cases washed onto the same shore as the samurai that were defeated earlier. The citizens of the Land of Waves watched as the men ran for their lives and smiled as most of them fell into the waters and escaped like spineless cowards.

Inari was the first person to break the ice as soon as Naruto and Kakashi dismissed their clones and shouted out to the skies as he thrust his crossbow into the air, "WE DID IT!"

The air was then flooded with the sounds of victorious shouts and screams as the citizens celebrated the liberation of their humble, downtrodden town. Their weapons were raised high into the air as their voice soared much higher. Tazuna looked all around him and watched as the faces of his friends and his fellow citizens were enlightened again while others, including him, started to sob with utter happiness and delight. Tsunami wrapped her arms around her father while Giichi leaned out of the machine and waved his hardhat into the air in celebration with the other construction workers. Inari ran towards Naruto and the blonde shinobi caught him when he tried to tackle him down and gave him a short-lived spin and then let him back down to celebrate. The citizens started to laugh and scream as the sounds of their voices cancelled out the sounds of the men that retreated into the shadows, never to return or threaten their civilization ever again.

* * *

><p>{{<em>Confluence by John Williams<em>}}

Kakashi smiled as the forces disappeared, but soon his hidden smile vanished into a calm face but saddened face as he noticed Zabuza alone on the concrete. He saw his back twitch and convulse for one moment and then it happened again and again, which meant that the man was still alive. He approached his carcass as the sounds of the civilians started to calm down and notice as Kakashi made it to the former assassin. The masked shinobi soon stood over the man that had once tried to kill him and watched as he coughed out some blood and looked at him.

Zabuza stared back at him and then muttered as more blood seeped out his mouth, "It sounds like it's over…"

"Yeah," the masked man answered as he stared down at him.

The assassin tried to smile but failed, and then tried to beckon to the shinobi that stood above him, "Kakashi… I have a favor to ask…"

"What is it, Zabuza?" he asked back as he reached his face to lower his headband.

The crippled man was almost in tears again as he begged, "Please… take me to her… Let me see her one last time… take me to Haku, please… Just one more time… Please…"

Kakashi placed his hand down over his headband and lowered the metal plate over his Sharingan as he closed it to save his strength and then he looked down at the man with a soft expression that made his dark iris shine as tears tried to reach out and leak out the corner. But Kakashi controlled his emotions and smiled down at the man as he answered him.

"…Sure…"

The civilians and the shinobi that had celebrated in the construction site stood and stared as Kakashi knelt down and carried the massive man in his arms and took him down to the same place where his daughter rested in silence. As the masked man carried him to his assistant, something had happened when the sun started to burst through the final levels of the mist Zabuza created for his failed assassination attempt. As several beams from the sun penetrated the mist, it released a substance that should have been impossible to form with the warmth and moisture in this current environment. There were flakes of the purest and whitest snow that rained down from the mist and clouds and landed all around the civilians and shinobi, but it soon melted back into water within several minutes of landing. The civilians and the shinobi stared at the skies as an endless rain of snowflakes fell down on their cheeks and melted on their warm and flustered faces.

"Impossible…" said one citizen.

Another one also mentioned, "Isn't it still the middle of summer?"

Zabuza stared at the falling snow, as he was carried closer and closer to his precious assistant. He could remember the first time he ever met Haku was back in the middle of the winter when she told him that they both had the same eyes. While he remembered his countless adventures with his most precious assistant, he felt the cold snowflakes land on his face, which caused him to release another small stream of tears. He then thought of all the countless hours the two spent on the road, traveling and plotting their next move and their next scam, while he felt Kakashi kneel back down and place him on the floor next to his precious little kunoichi. The masked shinobi treated the muscular man like an active bomb and made sure he was placed right beside the black-haired teen. As Zabuza felt his arms touch the cold stone, he couldn't help but wonder that the existence of this snow meant that his precious adopted daughter was out there somewhere, crying over his inevitable demise. He let the tears roll down his face as he thought of her with tears running down her reddened cheeks as she watched him die. Once he felt his back touch the cold surface of the concrete, Zabuza nodded to the shinobi that aided him.

"Thanks… Kakashi…"

The masked man retreated back to the other citizens and stood next to his closest student.

All of them watched as Zabuza turned his head and stared at the assistant he saw as his own daughter. More and more of the sun started to come out and its beams shined down onto the construction site and touched Haku's incredible skin. The sun's inconceivable beams licked her skin and clothes, reflected off the surface, and made her radiate with unbelievable warmth and gorgeousness. Fresh magical snowflakes then fell down on her face and melted, forming a small stream on her face that made it appear as if she cried. In response to this, Zabuza let more tears run down his own face as he released a number of muddled sounds that made it sound like he tried to sob his heart out. He then found an unbelievable strength in his right arm that enabled him to reach out and place his useless hand against her cheek to comfort her for the first and last time in this world.

"You were always there for me…" he said, "The least I can do is be here once it's over… Haku-chan… I know it can never be… but if I could, if I were able to… I wish I could go to the same place on the other side…" he admitted as he felt his life force and his heartbeat fade more and more, "You and me… that same place… Haku-chan… Forever..."

* * *

><p>In the last moments of Zabuza Momochi's existence, he did not feel cold as he felt his life force start to drain and his heart begin to fail. He started to feel warm, around his chest and then that warmth spread out to his torso and then his limbs and the tips of his fingers and toes.<p>

He soon expected to feel like he was about to be consumed with fire and beaten with brimstone. But he never felt the flames of the underworld lick his skin or sear his flesh. He was never beaten or tortured as he expected he should be for all the people he killed and assassinated. Instead, he felt like he was in the middle of a warm meadow filled with tall grass, bathing in the sunlight with his daughter at his side, wearing her favorite normal clothes while she smiled at him and cried at the same time. Zabuza smiled as well and then he let out one more breath, where he was consumed with darkness and then he was in complete and utter nirvana.

* * *

><p>The shinobi in the area could hear as his last breath was used and there was a moment of silence. But soon, as the snow continued to fall down from the skies and land on their faces and melt, Naruto started to sob as tears rolled down his face in twin rivers. His sensei listened to him sob and listened as Naruto tried to talk to him.<p>

"Sensei…" he cried, "She… she told me that she was born in a village where it snowed… all the time…"

He stared at the motionless bodies as the sun burst through the clouds and blanketed them with warmth, "She never became a true shinobi and killed with the intention to do so… Her spirit was pure… Pure as the freshest white snow…"

As Naruto continued to sob and mourn for both the fallen shinobi, he latched onto his sensei's right pant leg while the older man let his hand fall onto Naruto's shoulder, but he kept his own emotions in check. The silver-haired man and his small blonde shinobi student stood there as the last snowflakes fell from the clouds and melted in the sun. Kakashi watched as the last of the snow melted and he soon looked into the skies.

'_You will be with her, Zabuza… I know that… I hope for all the best…_'

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><p>To Be Continued…<p>

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><p><strong>Naruto: Whoa… that was good… Still close to what happens in canon, but its still a nice twist with what you put into it.<strong>

**AZ44: That scene with the piano music from Spirited Away almost made me tear up a little... Almost.**

**K: Thanks. It took me forever to get it done like this. I just really hope the others like it. The music I used adds a nice touch to it.**

**Naruto: Confluence was almost too perfect. Bravo, man! Dattebayo!**

**K: Which reminds me that I'm going to put Gotham's Reckoning inside some of the invasion scenes in Book 3.**

**Naruto: SWEET! THAT'S AWESOME!**

**AZ44: Heh! Dishy Pasta-Bra!**

**K: (Punches Azeroth44 in the face and smiles) Time and a place, man. So, I supposed I should wrap this up, now. But I would like to point out that the next chapter will be done in a few weeks or maybe sooner, depending on how I feel-**

**Iruka: NARUTO! TURN DOWN GOTHAM'S RECKONING! YOU'RE INTERRUPTING THE OUTRO!**

**Naruto: BUT IT'S SO EPIC!**

**K: UNTIL NEXT TIME! I'M KVSYAORAN! BE SURE TO LEAVE A REVIEW! NOW IF YOU EXCUSE ME I HAVE TO CUT THE POWER ON MY STEREO SYSTEM! NARUTO TURN IT DOWN!**


	14. The Phoenix Lament

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura

'_Blah_': Naruto's thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

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><p><strong>Hello and welcome back! Compared to the previous updates I've made this is probably the fastest I've made in a while.<strong>

**Naruto: It's weird, sometimes you don't update for months on end.**

**K: Well, not all of us have shadow clones to help us multitask. Trust me, if I had shadow clones, I would have finished this book as well as the whole series by now.**

**Naruto: I know, shadow clones make everything easier.**

**K: Could I borrow a few for a while?**

**Naruto: Sorry, it doesn't work like that.**

**K: Well, carpers and milk.**

**Iruka: Relax, man. What do we have in store this time around? It looks like we have some character development.**

**K: That's right. In this book, I'm about to make a canonical reference to chapter 524 in the Naruto manga, when Kakashi flashes back to several moments after the departure scene from the Land of Waves arc when he discusses Zabuza and Haku with Naruto. I loved that scene, and I guess I explored into the student-teacher relationship between Naruto and Kakashi in this version. It's not the best thing I've written, but I can only hope that you folks out there like it.**

**Iruka: (looks ahead and then sighs) That's sweet… but I feel a little jealous of Kakashi…**

**K: Here's a boomerang to cheer you up.**

**Iruka: BOOMERANG!**

**Naruto: Wait a minute. Where's Azeroth44?**

**K: He's probably listening to Lions by Lights while he's writing his new chapter. Or he's looking at more screenshots of that Mists of Pandaria. Or both.**

**Iruka: (finds a smart phone next to boomerang and reads) According to his latest message he's ill. Plus, he's going on a vacation soon. So he can't make it.**

**Naruto: Poor bastard. I miss him a little.**

**K: Yeah... I even bought those kick-ass brownies he likes.**

**Iruka: (grabs brownie and smiles) King me!**

**Naruto: (also reaches for a brownie) So Kakashi-sensei and I get to have our own student-teacher time together? Let's watch!**

**K: (grabs one more brownie as well) Launch it!**

* * *

><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto**

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling and Warner Bros**

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><p>Chapter 14: The Phoenix Lament<p>

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><p>{{<em>Dobby's WarningGreat Danger by John Williams_}}

It was a silent and monotonous night several weeks after the incident at the construction site and the death of the businessman Gatō, the assassin Zabuza Momochi, and his assistant Haku.

At the moment, all the occupants inside Tazuna's house were asleep; Kakashi was almost dead-tired while he healed from his most recent injuries, while the rest of the occupants were in their rooms, resting after all that had happened and the aftermath when Zabuza and Haku's bodies were buried. All seemed well in the house, except for one bedroom at the highest floor. Naruto was tossing and turning inside his sleeping bag, sweating like he was inside an oven. He started to turn pale as more and more sweat ran down his face and drenched his dark-blue pajamas. He then started to make noises while he tossed and turned in his sleep. Naruto then started to twitch and then he shot up inside his sleeping bag and let out a terrible, but short-lived scream.

"AAAAAARRRGGGH! NOOOOO!"

The blonde preteen felt like he had been hit in the face when he was awakened from his own scream. Naruto covered his mouth and looked to his side, where he noticed Sasuke had woken up from the sudden disturbance as well.

"What the hell…" he heard him murmur in a disoriented voice, "Forget it…"

The Uchiha then collapsed into his sleeping bag, rolled to his side, and went back to sleep once he realized that his teammate had another nightmare. Sasuke would have been more outraged towards his teammate and vocalized said outrage, but he was under the influence of several medications that helped numb out his wounds and heal him.

Once the Uchiha was asleep again, his blonde-haired teammate retreated out of the bedroom and headed towards the nearest bathroom, which was at the end of the hall, next to the stairs. He switched on the lights and turned on the cold-water tap and waited for the sink to be filled as he stared at his reflection. The dream was so vivid in Naruto's mind, still there in his memories, tormenting him while he was awake in the real world, when he should have forgotten about it now. He had dreamed and re-experienced the incident on the bridge when the demon sealed inside his navel was took him over and had infected him with its inconceivable power. He could still feel the demon's chakra flow through his veins and spread across his muscle tissues and consume his blood, droplet after droplet. When Naruto stretched his muscles or even tried to move his limbs or fingers, he could feel the subtle strain beneath his skin, as if his insides and muscles were as damaged or burned. He pinched his skin, and sure enough, it felt like he had been burned, but it was underneath his skin.

He then turned off the water and splashed some of it on his arms and his face while he tried to calm down. The water turned warm at the touch and ran down his cheeks and forehead while he felt an invisible hand fall on his shoulder. The blonde preteen looked into the mirror as he pretended to see his older brother there, at his side. Naruto tried to focus on his breath and waited as he felt Harry's magic release into his bloodstream and provide with some relief from the damage the demon fox inflicted upon him. He soon settled down as he felt his muscles become loose and the burning pain when his chest rose and lowered had vanished for a while. Soon, it spread through all his bloodstream and muscles, which forced him to relax.

"It was a dream…" he said to his reflection, "You have to calm down…"

Once he could move without the burning strain in his skin, he took some more water and rubbed it into his face and let it run down his torso and cool him down. Naruto then took a towel from the rack and dried all the excessive moisture, so that he could sleep when he turned out the lights and returned to the bedroom.

* * *

><p>Several hours later, some time after dawn, most of the members of Team 7 were awake and sitting down at the kitchen table. Tsunami was not awake to make them breakfast, but none of the members of the team wanted food in their stomachs at the moment. The team sat down in their usual seats inside the restored kitchen table and waited for Naruto to come down when it turned out that he was awake like the others, but he was hesitant to come down and join them. Sasuke appeared to be frustrated and tired while his teammate Sakura looked exhausted, but she tried to remain alert and awake while she observed her crush's injuries and wondered if he would let her tend to them later. When Kakashi entered the kitchen, he walked over to the table with some trouble but soon sat down with his students in silence while Sasuke decided to vent out his frustrations towards his roommate.<p>

"I swear if he has one more nightmare tonight," he threatened, "I'll punch him in the face when he's asleep."

Kakashi looked a little concerned as he asked his student, "Whose having nightmares?"

"Naruto-baka," the kunoichi answered him, "I heard him scream last night."

The silver-haired man asked in a calm voice, "He screamed? Has this happened all week, or was it just last night?"

"Well, I think so," answered Sakura, "I heard him earlier in the week. He must have had another nightmare."

Sasuke complained with a dark voice, "That idiot did it again and he woke me up last night. If he doesn't cut it out, I'll fracture his nose."

"Let's not resort to that, Sasuke," said their sensei as he motioned him to calm down, "He's had a rough time ever since the incident on the bridge. All of us have. Give him a break."

As the two students started to calm down a little, the silver-haired teacher looked a little more concerned under his mask as he understood the detail concerning the nightmares and assumed it must have something to do with the incident with the possession he sensed happen when his two students were sealed inside that ice dome. He felt that he would have to have a talk with Naruto about it, but he had to wait until the time was appropriate to have a talk about such a sensitive matter. At the same time as their conversation started, Naruto stood at the corner of the stairs and listened to his teammates and sensei talk about him and then climbed down the stairs and reunited with them.

The others stared him for a moment and he looked back with a slight nod and stuffed his hands into his pockets. The others stared at him because all of them couldn't help but wonder how many of those tracksuits he had stored in his pack as the team assumed he lost the last one. Naruto had to ditch his previous tracksuit, since it was ruined and melted in some places. But there he stood as he donned another atrocious tracksuit, which was the last one he had left on him until he returned home. Naruto stared back at the others, and then he asked the question.

"So should we go down now?" he asked.

Kakashi and the others nodded, but it was the oldest shinobi that said, "Yeah… Let's head out…"

* * *

><p>The masked shinobi lead his students to the area where Zabuza and Haku's remains were buried. It was located at the cliffside that towered over the sea with a clear view of the construction site and several of the closest islands that comprised the Land of Waves.<p>

Once the team had made it to the cliffside, the bodies that had been buried there were hidden underneath these two solid-wood columns inserted into the earth to serve as twin graves, without the names of the shinobi that were buried. The citizens of the town were kind enough to retrieve Zabuza's blade and had it thrust into the earth and placed against his grave, meanwhile the obi from Haku's clothes was tied around her wooden column and served as a means of identification. There were no dates carved into the wood upon Kakashi's request, since he didn't want their remains to be discovered and salvaged. Despite the fact that the massive sword could reveal Zabuza's identification and hunter-nin could retrieve the remains for whatever purpose intended. But over some time and with the constant moisture in the air in this environment, the sword would become covered with moss in no time and conceal the weapon and hide the remains. So, no one had to be too concerned that a shinobi could come here and uncover the bodies and weapons.

Once the team made it to the site, Sakura placed two bowls filled with fresh bread buns as double offerings to the deceased. Naruto and the others then stood in silence as all of them stared at the markers and let the sun beat against their faces as the wind blew their hair back and forced the smell of the sea into their nostrils. Naruto soon approached Haku's burial site and pressed his fingers against the wooden surface of the marker and thought about the innocent kunoichi he had met in the forest. He had wished so much that she had survived as he intended, but he could do nothing now but mourn her as he remained tight-lipped and looked to the other members of his team that stood close to him in silence.

Sasuke stared at the graves and then looked out towards the sea and itched at some of the bandages around his neck while he pretended to show the deceased kunoichi some respect. Sakura on the other hand stood aside as she let her head tilt downward and she showed her respect to the dead. Kakashi stood a little bit further than his students as he too stared at the wooden columns and mourned the loss of the shinobi buried in the earth. Naruto soon looked back at the graves and examined the offerings that Tsunami baked for them the previous night. The blonde shinobi wished that he could have had a much more abundant and delicious offering for them, but lacked the knowledge or the resources required to do so. He complained about the lack of food for the deceased to the man that was sealed inside him. The one person in the world he knew that could understand about the wants and needs of the dead.

'_We could have given them much better treats than these._'

'_**Agreed… If I had one of these ceremonies back when I died, I would have wanted an entire banquet made in my honor. You name it, we would have it: ramen, rice, sandwiches, treacle tart, Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Botts, Cauldron Cakes. You name it, it would have been there…**_'

'_But at least this is something… This bread is homemade and it smells nice._'

The small blonde shinobi then reached out and held a small bun in his hand and smelled it a little more as the scent was attractive for bread. His invisible companion tried to focus his senses on smell through his little brother and sighed as the smell of food in the real world almost levitated him. But soon the sensation was cut short when Naruto heard his female teammate approach him from behind and she reeled her arm back and slammed her rock-hard fist into the back of Naruto's head. The blonde shinobi dropped the bun and it fell back into the bowl with the rest of them while Sakura scowled at her teammate.

"You idiot," she shouted, "You're not supposed to eat that!"

Naruto complained to his teammate, "I wasn't, Sakura-chan! Honest!"

The kunoichi turned her back to her teammate and fumed as she returned to her previous position and decided to ask her sensei a question.

"Kakashi-sensei…" she started it out slow, "What Zabuza and that other kunoichi said about being a shinobi. Is that our true purpose? To use and be used like tools like those two were?"

The other children turned towards their wise leader and waited for him to answer. The silver-haired man hesitated for a short while and then he answered her question and informed the other two shinobi.

"Well… Yes and no…" he answered, "Shinobi are considered tools or instruments in someone else's hands. Our original reason to exist was to act as tools without concern for our own lives and the people we are connected to. We had to do whatever it took to complete the mission without regrets or emotional attachment…" he hesitated as if he were ashamed and then he said, "But we've been around for a while now and we've evolved. In the end, we're still human. We have emotions and we have people that we care about and fight for, which makes us so much more than tools or instruments to be used…"

Naruto stared at his teacher and shivered as he imagined what he could become should he embrace the shinobi's true purpose. He looked worried and bothered about his future and then he expressed his disapproval and concern about the shinobi nindo.

"That's what it was like to be a true shinobi, sensei?" he asked, "I don't like the sound of that at all."

Sasuke then decided to be sociable and asked their instructor without the use of a respectable honorific, "Is that what you believe in, Kakashi?"

"No… I don't…" the silver-haired man stated with a clear and sure voice, "We are still human. And we have the right to shape our own destinies and make our own choices… That's what I believe in… It's that thought that helps me and countless others out there continue on with whatever we choose to do with our lives… But it's that change in our methods that can lead us down a much darker road… It's our ties with others and our emotions that can turn us into either heroes or monsters… And not all of us are so fortunate, even in Konohagakure… We can still breed rogue terrorists and criminals, a lot like Zabuza or even worse… It's almost like a curse that all shinobi have to deal with at some point in their lives when one must make a choice… Zabuza was almost lost to it… but he was saved at the last minute when he had someone that wanted to pull him out… He was almost lost to it…"

Naruto looked to his teacher and asked with a curious voice, "Lost to what, sensei?"

"Oh, that's right… it's almost like a right of passage to us all… You've never even heard about it yet…" he hesitated and then he answered his students, "It's sometimes called the Dark Path of Shinobi... It's the road we could all tread at a certain time in our lives when we're forced to question our convictions and loyalties and we could lead down a path of eternal darkness and mistakes; such as crime, defection, heartlessness, and in some cases, it can lead one to death or even suicide... Zabuza was a prime example to this and it comes to show that it can happen to anyone… Even I almost went down that road back when I was kid and made jounin… But then someone was able to save me… well, more than one person in truth, two precious teammates and a mentor that I admired… It looks like Zabuza managed to find someone important to lead him out of that darkness right before the end, though he needed to be reminded that she was there, leading him out all that time... In the end, she opened his heart and she saved him at his final breath... I'm certain of that…"

The team was quiet for several more minutes as each of them absorbed their teacher's words, even the more stubborn ones. Naruto looked back towards the wooden graves and stared at them as the sun rose and shined through the clouds and blanketed the team in warm sunlight. The blonde preteen stood still for a while and stared at the sword and the obi until he made a choice and wanted to announce it, in the hopes that it would inspire his teammates and help them make the right choice in their own lives, so that none of them would make the same mistakes as the shinobi that were buried beneath their feet.

He announced as he turned around and faced his team, "I've made a decision… I know it's sort of sudden… but here it is…"

Naruto hesitated while he bit down on his lower lip and made the same mannerisms and gestures that his older brother would make whenever he made an important or difficult decision.

"From now on… I'll choose a different path than that so that it won't happen to me. I'll create a new nindo… my own shinobi way…" he said and then he asked the others, "That doesn't sound like a bad idea, does it?"

The other teammates and the silver-haired man stared at the blonde child. Sasuke and Sakura looked more confused or a little puzzled as both of them stared at their eccentric teammate. But Kakashi was the one that seemed to smile under his mask and look down at Naruto with a sense of pride as his unusual student reminded him of his one former teammate and he chuckled with encouragement, "Heh! Not at all, Naruto…"

* * *

><p>Later that night, about an hour before Tsunami would start dinner, Kakashi had the nice woman assist him in removing some of his uniform, since the clothes he wore had started to smell bad. He was unable to remove them on his own since the strain against the skin on his torso was almost too much for him take. It was an obvious clue that the blade that had sliced through his skin and tore into the muscles in his chest had done its damage. His wound was not even close to healed based on how much it still hurt to move around. The silver-haired shinobi needed to switch his uniform, while he also needed to fix his wounds a little bit more than he did earlier. His punctured palm appeared to be fine, but it was still buried underneath white cloth and was almost dowsed with antibiotics and medicine. He checked over his hand a little and it seemed to be much better than it was earlier in the week. Kakashi now needed to check the cut on his chest and had Tsunami to assist him with replacing the wrappings and place some more medicine on his torso with what little medical supplies he had with him on this mission.<p>

Most of the other members of the team were still outside out on the construction site with the old man and the other carpenters, aiding the workers to move the construction forward. Naruto was the first to make it back home before his teammates, but his arrival was unannounced while he heard his sensei in the other room and heard him curse several times but soon apologize to the woman that aided him. The blonde wizard remained hidden for a little while as he listened in on the adults and even peered inside the room and examined the wounds from a distance.

Tsunami tried her best not to have a nosebleed when she removed Kakashi's shirt and revealed the most incredible male muscular structure she had ever seen in her life. All of his muscles were clear and defined to the point where he looked like he must have been sculpted out of solid stone that was the same color as his otherwise flawless fair skin. Kakashi was without a doubt the most attractive man she had ever seen since her late husband had died. She couldn't imagine that a man could ever become so defined and toned, but there he was, a fascination or some sexual desire made real. But then she noticed the obvious wound that trailed across his chest that almost immobilized him. It looked like it hadn't healed much in the weeks since the battle, since he had to move around a lot to tend to his duties and such.

She soon shook her head and took the bottle of anti-infection cream that Kakashi showed her and examined the large wound on his chiseled abdominal muscles. The silver-haired man invited her to touch his abs and when she did, she retreated her hand back for two reasons. The first reason was because it almost felt like Kakashi was made out of some warm but tender solid stone when she touched his muscles. The second reason was because when she had touched the wound, the shinobi had winced and cursed out loud while his other muscles contracted and twitched. The man apologized again for his outburst and frustration, to which Tsunami nodded her head and reached back for the small mirror she had on hand.

"Oww…" the shinobi mumbled in a pained voice as the woman showed him a reflection with the small mirror and then he said as he examined his own chest, "It looks bad... I'll take some more medicine for a boost, but I think I'll need to see a doctor once we make it back to the village... It's a shame... I was almost hoping to take the kids out camping on the trip back home..."

Tsunami smiled at the statue-like man and told him, "You're such a father to those students, even at times like this. It's so precious."

While Tsunami and Kakashi had a small conversation that followed, Naruto peered around the corner and noticed the slash. The blonde preteen felt concerned for his mentor and chewed over the damage he saw and wished that he could assist him somehow. But as he marched towards his shared bedroom, his thoughts turned to the contents hidden inside his beaded backpack and he smiled as he stormed to the bedroom in a flash. Perhaps it was time he returned to the favor to his sensei from when he healed his wounds.

* * *

><p>Much later, at around dinnertime, Tazuna and the others returned home with Inari and settled down in the living room. The small civilian child started to take an interest in his old man's work, so he came down to the construction site and watched the other men at work and consider it as a possible career next to fisherman; he even started to wear a white towel around his neck, much like his grandfather.<p>

While Tazuna, Inari, Sasuke, and Sakura settled down, Kakashi checked his medical supplies for more medicine to aid him and accelerate his healing process. He was certain that he had the boost he mentioned earlier. But it took him a while to find it inside his supplies, since he didn't imagine he would need it on this mission, whatever it was. At the same time, Naruto was upstairs in his shared bedroom at the same time, searching his beaded backpack for an item he was certain would cure his mentor's predicament. He searched his own supplies and soon withdrew a small bottle that contained a radiant emerald substance. It was a small container of Wiggenweld Potion that he had brewed back in his old apartment earlier on in the previous month.

The blonde shinobi took the bottle with him and went downstairs while the others were distracted. Naruto turned towards the kitchen and made sure no one could listen in as he confronted Tsunami when she retreated to the refrigerator for some more food she could add to the stew for dinner.

He asked, "Um, Tsunami-san?

"Yes, Naruto-kun?" she asked back.

The blonde shinobi showed her the bottle and told her, "I, uh, needed to talk about Kakashi-sensei's medicine. It's this special antidote that should heal his wounds real fast. He needs it, but he has a little problem with it, so much that he sometimes refuses to take it even when he needs it. I need to mix this formula into his food. Otherwise he won't be able to swallow it. He hates taking it even in extreme cases like these. Sensei can be real stubborn from time to time when it comes to this stuff. You have no idea."

"All right, Naruto-kun," she smiled as she was oblivious to his plans, "I'll mix it in for him."

Naruto had to make sure that his teacher wouldn't ask her questions so he added more instructions as he thanked her, "Thanks. But make sure he doesn't know that it's in his stew, even tomorrow or much later. Otherwise, he'll be real upset and he could throw it back up. Again, Kakashi-sensei can be stubborn like that."

"It'll be fine," she smiled as she uncorked the bottle and placed it on the side, "I'll take care of it and I won't tell him no matter what. I promise."

* * *

><p>When dinner was served, Tsunami had prepared all the stew bowls and handed them out to the others at the table. Kakashi's was the last to be served as he tried to sit down in a comfortable position and not strain the skin on his chest as some of his relief-medication started to wear out. Once he settled down, Naruto leaned in closer towards his teacher as he heard him make uncomfortable noises and flinch several more times.<p>

He asked him in a casual voice, "You're going to be alright, Kakashi-sensei?"

"I'll be fine," he answered his small student as he sat straight, "I took some of the best medicine I have and I'll take the rest later tonight… Thanks for the concern, Naruto…"

Tsunami then handed the silver-haired man his own bowl while the blonde-haired shinobi stared at the stew and noticed that the broth looked almost radiant compared to the others. Naruto looked back at Tsunami when she winked at him and tossed the used bottle into the trash. When he turned back to watch his sensei remove his mask to eat, the blonde shinobi froze and stared as his sensei as he slid the dark cloth against his nose and noticed as the bowl had been emptied down to the last morsel of meat and vegetables.

"That was delicious…" he sighed as he smiled and noticed the furious looks on his student's faces when none of them even saw his face, "Thanks, Tsunami-san."

* * *

><p>Several hours later sometime around sunrise, Naruto walked downstairs to use the toilet since his teammate claimed it sooner than usual so she could use the shower. The tired blonde shinobi toppled down the stairs but then remained still as he heard that Kakashi was wide-awake and he sounded fascinated or surprised for some reason. Curious, he remained hidden around the other room in the house and listened in as Tsunami assisted Kakashi and removed his shirt to check his wounds. Once the dark shirt and mesh underneath it had been removed and tossed to the side, Kakashi looked down at his chest and stared at in awe.<p>

"I-Incredible…" he breathed.

Tsunami asked him as she turned and stared at his incredible torso, "What is it, Kakashi-san?"

The slice on his chest was not as tender as it was earlier and the cut had been sealed with new flesh, like it had been painted over with fresh skin. Kakashi examined the wound and even touched it, but was soon amazed, as he was unable to feel as much pain as he did before. He twisted around a little and then flicked his chest a couple of times to test his tolerance to pain. It still hurt to touch the wound and move more than he should, but now Kakashi could move around a lot more, like he had never been hurt. The tall shinobi continued to check his tolerance levels and even started to exercise a little bit while Tsunami stared and watched, as it would seem like he was throwing her a free show.

"This should be impossible," he said as he twisted a little one more time, "I can't believe it… It's still a little tender, but I can move again… It must have been some of that ointment I used last night… It must be more potent than the usual brand…"

Tsunami smiled and turned to look at Naruto as he peeked around the corner, "I guess that must have been it."

Kakashi soon started to clench his fists and started punching into the air at speeds that almost scared the woman close to him when she turned back to face him. The silver-haired man made several fast hits into the air, but ceased when he threw his arm forward and strained the wound a little too much. He twitched and whined a little bit once he realized he had reached his limits.

"Oww… Alright… that's enough for me…"

* * *

><p>Elsewhere at the end of the construction site later in the week, Tazuna watched as wet and blended cement was poured over the steel columns and supports that connected the bridge to the mainland and smiled all the while. The other carpenters around also smiled in anticipation and excitement while others looked more anxious and stared as the metal beams and columns were buried. Tazuna controlled the cement with a small lever and refused to release his hand from it until all the cement was used or until the last block to add to the marvel was inserted. All the while, he stared and waited as Inari sat on Naruto's shoulders and watched as the concrete rose closer to the surface. Sasuke and Sakura stood outside the mob and waited, as both of them seemed either bored or uninterested while the others were about to burst in anticipation. Their much more enthusiastic teammate almost started to bounce a little as Inari wanted to be let down on the floor so that he could see it closer. Once the cement had reached the surface and leveled with the rest of the structure, Tazuna pushed the lever back up and approached the smoothed mess and carved a small letter "T" into the structure and watched as it solidified and at last hardened.<p>

"It's done…" the old man stood and turned to face all his workers and the shinobi that came to watch as he raised his hardhat into the air and roared as the others followed in celebration, "IT'S DONE!"

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><p>The whole town was then united in a massive celebration held in the middle of the town. The citizens of the Land of Waves cheered and danced in the streets as the scavengers that had set out to raid Gatō's former hideout in the mainland returned with their arms and shirts loaded and stuffed to their capacities with countless amounts cash and treasures. It was about the same amount of wealth that was stolen from their land and their culture, as well as some interest. The men, women, and children all celebrated and screamed in happiness as all their financial predicaments were solved in an instant while the men that connected their small nation to the mainland stormed to Tazuna's home while several of the husbands and wives of the other workers came as well and assisted Tsunami in preparation of a massive feast to celebrate. The shinobi that Tazuna hired were not in obligation to assist them, as it was their turn to relax and be assisted.<p>

The house was soon loaded with more people than the shinobi could anticipate. The men that had finished the bridge were treated to endless beer and snacks while the other civilians worked hard in the kitchen and relished in the sounds of celebration and merriment. Kakashi smiled under his mask and crossed his arms while the other men drank and tried to convince him to drink as well, but he refused each time and continued to smile. Sakura tried to latch onto Sasuke as she started to feel alienated and surrounded with old men. Sasuke tried to retreat into the shadows and tend to his wounds on his own, but his persistent teammate wouldn't leave him alone and started to offer to treat him instead. But soon, the Uchiha was saved when Kakashi decided to summon him and escorted him to another room and insisted that he check on his wounds and lecture him on his future medicinal needs. Meanwhile, Naruto watched as Inari was invited to commemorate the success of the construction with other children that were his age. The blonde shinobi smiled at him and encouraged him join them in the festivities. Once the blonde shinobi was alone, he took in the atmosphere and drank some soda that had been offered to him earlier. Soon, the rooms were filled with more civilians related to the workers as some of the food was distributed to the masses and the alcoholic must in the room was thinned out with the smell of warm and delicious food.

{{_I Can't See You Anymore by James Horner_}}

Naruto looked around the room and watched as the workers and their families celebrated and drank with pride as it felt like the whole town was cramped inside of the small house on the coast. He looked around some more and took in a little bit of the atmosphere before it was all too much and he needed to leave for some fresh air. The lone blonde shinobi turned towards the back door and slipped around several other almost-drunken guests so that he could be alone, and walk on the beach. Naruto closed the door behind him and listened as the sounds of the civilians faded and the sounds of waves crashing and the flow of the billowing ocean deepened. The blonde preteen looked out towards the sea and could see the completed bridge from where he stood. He decided to take a walk with his hands tucked inside his pockets before he stopped at a smooth and flat dark rock sticking out of the sand and sat down on the natural bench to watch the ocean. Naruto sat there on the beach for what felt like hours to him while he listened to the sound of the water shifting up and down the shore and rumble like it was some massive animal. He opened his eyes and looked out to see the powerful reflection of the sun blaze in his face. When he looked down at the water and watched the shifting surface flash mixtures of scarlet and amber, he was reminded of the venomous fire that had once consumed him.

Soon Naruto's thoughts turned towards the possession and he shivered when he remembered how it felt to be enveloped with that monstrous and murderous power. The sand beneath his feet seemed to turn into snow while the warm summer air chilled like he was back inside the ice dome. The memories of that experience were still fresh in his mind as if it had happened minutes ago. He could still feel the venom coarse through his veins and burn him on the inside like he was on fire. Naruto tried to shake his head and remove the memories in his head, but it was useless as an experience like that was too much to forget.

He hated it. Naruto never wanted to have to use that power ever again.

The thought alone made him ache inside, knowing now that the beast could come out and take him over if he was driven over the edge with his emotions. He almost felt like he was about to throw up, but was afraid that if he did then the demon power would come out through his mouth. It was at that moment did he realize how unstable he was with his emotions at the moment and he was consumed with fear. But before his companion could comfort him and knock some sense into him, he heard a sound that almost made him twitch. It sounded like a set of large bare feet moving through the sand and he felt a familiar presence approach him. Naruto looked towards the house and saw Kakashi coming towards him in slow, laid-back steps across the beach. He too had his hands tucked inside his pockets while he walked through the warm beach and the sleeves of his pants were rolled up so that none of the sand would get caught in his clothes. His expression was unreadable with his mask over his face, but it seemed that he wanted to talk to Naruto about something important.

"I thought I would find you out here..." he said in a casual voice.

Naruto answered him; "I wanted to see the beach at least once while we're here. It's incredible… How's that chest-wound-thing?"

"Much better," his sensei sighed as he sat down on the bench with his student, "But I've had worse injuries in the past. I'll be bouncing again in about one more week... Then we can leave…"

The blonde student smiled and then seemed a little concerned, "That's good to know... How's Sasuke?"

"I talked to him for a while and I checked him over. Sasuke will be fine," he said, "He just needs to take it easy for about one more week and take some medicine, the same as me."

Naruto smiled again and looked back out towards the sea with a distant expression on his face. Kakashi turned to face him and looked a little bit serious with what could be read on his covered face.

"How about you," the jounin asked him in an almost serious voice, "are you feeling ok?"

There was a long pause after his sensei asked that last question. Naruto let the wind whip his hair out of his face and expose his forehead to the sun blazing while he tried his best to talk. He let his head tilt down a few inches while his teacher averted his gaze from the ocean and looked down to the golden-haired child when he hesitated to answer him. He saw his lips begin to tremble while the child thought of the fire that burned his insides and caused him to turn into a monster that almost crushed the masked kunoichi. The silver-haired teacher had no possible idea how much the possession of the fox bothered his student and how it made him feel while he was under the beast's influence. But he was given a good hint when the child uttered the next several sentences.

{{_The Covered Bridge + Remembering Lily by John Williams _(AKA: A Window to the Past Theme)}}

"I'm so sorry, Kakashi-sensei..." he said with an apologetic voice, "I... I didn't mean to do it... It was an accident... I-I couldn't control it..."

His teacher raised his head in concern, "What's wrong?"

"I let the damn demon fox take me over..." the genin confessed as his voice began to tremble and fail as he started to choke on his words, "I-I didn't mean for it to happen... but I couldn't control it... I-I-I thought that Sasuke was dead and everything after that became a blur to me... I-I-I h-hated it... It felt like I was on fire... I-I was so mad and I couldn't control what I was doing... I… I didn't mean to... I never wanted to hurt anyone…"

But moments before Naruto could burst into tears, he felt a strong and warm hand fall upon his shoulder. He looked up to see his sensei looking down at him with a softened expression almost all hidden behind his mask and headband. The blonde-haired student looked into the older man's face and saw his silver eyebrow turned upward and his lone dark and almost-silver iris shine with understanding. The teacher saw the tears that were about to leak out before his warm touch caused them to stop in their tracks and retreat. He squeezed the kid's shoulder with a subtle hint of personal affection, because the child reminded him of his teammate and best friend that had died on a mission back when he was first promoted to jounin. He could remember that troublesome friend of his was a passionate and over-sensitive person that cried a lot when he was troubled. Kakashi used to make fun of him and mocked him for his emotional weakness, but he would regret that for the rest of his life after his friend saved him, but had died on their last mission together in the process. Seeing those tears in his own student's eyes brought out a rare kindness and tenderness within Kakashi Hatake that he showed to an exclusive number of people, most of who were dead now. He felt the need to reach out to his student and help him feel better about his inner turmoil, as opposed to telling him to toughen it out as the old-him would have suggested.

"Relax..." he said with a smooth voice, "It's ok, Naruto... Please relax... it's fine..."

The small shinobi tried to pull it together in front of his teacher and resisted the subtle urge to breakdown and sob when he started getting upset over what he had done inside the ice dome. Kakashi then started to give his student's shoulder a nice squeeze to help him ease the pain and angst that tormented his mind and his soul.

"Sometimes possession can happen with carrying this burden... It's not normal but it was bound to happen at some point, at least once... I understand that it must have been awful to see a comrade die and then the beast took over… but listen, I would have been driven into the same exact rage, as well… Believe me, kiddo, I've been through it… You have nothing to feel ashamed of or worried about, Naruto... Besides, didn't you just tell me that it was an accident?"

"Y-Yeah...?" he answered.

Kakashi then shook his shoulder and smiled under his mask, "Then, there's no trouble... Once we get back home, I promise that I'll figure out how to help if there's anything wrong... You can count on me... So take it down a notch now... No one can blame you for what happened… Now let's see the same Naruto that I know from training, huh? Where is he?"

Naruto tried to smile but it was harder than it seemed when he looked up at his teacher. There he sat, smiling under his mask and holding his shoulder like he had known him all his life. It confused him a little bit to see this man take such a liking to him, even though the two of them had known each other for several months. Already it seemed like the two shinobi had known each other for over a decade

"Sensei... I have to ask…" he sniffed, "Why didn't you ever hate me like the others do back in our village?"

He paused before he asked his student, "What on earth made you think that I would ever hate you?"

"Well... I dunno..." the genin paused and then he said, "A lot of people blame and hate me because the monster is sealed inside me... and I thought at one point you must have hated me too like the rest of them... I thought after what happened on the bridge, you would have been furious at me… "

Kakashi reassured him in a reasonable voice, "Well, I don't hate you and I never did... I can't blame you for what happened on the bridge and all the other reasons a lot of the people from Konoha feel towards you... It's because unlike a lot of them, my eyes are not blinded with anger or sadness... I don't conform and judge people at first sight and decide that person is bad based on the ideals of other people that I don't even know…"

"I know it sounds mental," he started slow as he started to feel a little warm in his chest, "But sometimes I think all the people in our own town hate me even if the truth is still a secret…" the genin speculated aloud, "Even Sasuke-teme and Sakura-chan..."

The much taller shinobi shook his head and said with a warm voice, though he did have some mild doubts about his other two students, "That's impossible. I'm sure that Sasuke and Sakura are on a similar level as me when we first met... Sure the three of you argue and bicker a whole lot, but that doesn't mean that you the three of you are sworn enemies from the start to the finish... No… deep down we all care about each other... at some point or in some way… Even if we won't admit it…"

"You and the others," the blonde child hesitated while his older brother warned him not to tell him about his own secret while he hinted it to his sensei, "You wouldn't hate me because I'm different? What if I turned out to be someone like Haku?"

Kakashi shook his head, "Never... We would never turn our backs on our friends no matter what... I'll be honest that I cannot vouch for all the other members of the team, but I know that I never will, Naruto…"

Naruto smiled up at his sensei with the same contagious smile that he threw at Iruka that one night when he spent the night at his house for the first time. Kakashi was surprised at the softness of the smile and couldn't help it when he soon started to smile under his mask as well. The child's innocent face flushed a little bit and he was soon able to speak again when his sensei shook his shoulder a little bit.

The blonde shinobi then said, "Thanks, Kakashi-sensei..."

Without another second to be warned, Naruto attacked his sensei with a monstrous embrace. Kakashi's eyes almost popped out of his sockets when his student wrapped his arms around his torso and almost squeezed his ribcage until his bones cracked. Kakashi was not the kind of person that enjoyed close physical contact with other human beings, unless it was a handshake, a squeeze of the shoulder, or in some cases, sexual intercourse. Not to mention that the wound on his chest was still tender and his breath was cut short when Naruto pressed his face into it and he unintentionally reopened the wound wide enough to release a small amount of blood. He didn't want to upset Naruto and throw him off him, but this heart-melting embrace almost killed him.

"Ouch… Ok..." he breathed, "That's a little tight, Naruto... don't slobber on the vest... Let me go... That hurts… please stop…"

The blonde-haired preteen soon released his embrace and rubbed the back of his head, "Gomenasai... I always get like this when I'm upset or emotional… I know I'm weird."

"Naruto Uzumaki..." his sensei sighed as he smiled under his mask, "You're a character alright…"

Instead of standing up and walking back to the house for the celebration and festivities, the two shinobi remained parked on the beach and watched as the sun continued to fall down the horizon and blanket the world around them with warm orange sunlight. Kakashi took in the sun but was still unable to soak up some color while most of his skin was covered with cloth or new bandages. Naruto sat there on the bench and watched the waters of the sea ripple and sway while the salt and moisture from the ocean brushed against his face. He took in another deep breath but soon looked towards the bridge and thought about the girl he had met in the forest of chakra. No one other than his older brother would ever know about the wisdom that had been bestowed upon him. But Naruto wanted to tell others about her and let her and the ideals she taught him live on and spread her wisdom out to the world, in her honor.

The blonde shinobi soon spoke up once again after a small wave crashed onto the beach, "Sensei? Could I tell you something?"

"Hmm? I suppose," his sensei replied, "What's up?

Naruto looked up to him with a somber look, "You have to promise me that you won't tell Sakura-chan. I don't want her getting upset or jealous or nothing at the middle bit here…"

"I promise," his teacher nodded and made a humorous salute swearing to secrecy.

The blonde-haired child then admitted with a soft voice, "That kunoichi with the mask… the one named Haku... I... I liked her... Zabuza as well..."

Kakashi paused and looked surprised when his student told him this. He never would have thought that Naruto would come out and tell him this, when he expected that the preteen pitied the two unfortunate souls. But the blonde preteen had admitted to a small crush towards Haku based on the increased color in his cheeks, though he doubted that he had a crush on Zabuza based on his tone of voice when he said his name.

"I understand that those two were our enemies, but Haku... she talked to me on the bridge before she sacrificed herself to end the fight and save Zabuza... She told me that people could only become strong when protecting someone precious to them..."

Kakashi remained silent while he stared at Naruto when he looked up at him and asked him one more question.

"Is it bad for me to say that I agree with what she told me...?" and then he asked him with another blush in his cheeks, "Or that... I liked her?"

The masked shinobi remained still and silent for the next several moments. He had to contemplate over this and thought back to when the dispute and revulsion he held against Zabuza had vanished seconds after he was fired and when the man was on the floor of the construction site in a puddle of his own blood. His resentment towards the man had disappeared and he granted his final request and laid him down next to his precious assistant. He even visited his grave and mourned him as if he were once a close friend, or rather, another fellow human. When Kakashi refocused on the question his student asked him a moment earlier, he blinked and then smiled at the little blonde shinobi.

"Not at all..." he answered, "I liked them, too, Naruto..."

The blonde shinobi smiled at his sensei and then looked out towards the sea. His sensei remained at his side and watched the sun set with him. The two shinobi watched the blazing orange orb while it fell down towards the ocean and leave the world around them in darkness. But soon the sun started to hurt his eye and his stomach let out a small rumble when he picked up the smell of the food Tsunami and the others had planned on making for the whole town. Kakashi stood up and stretched out his limbs without stretching the skin on his chest much.

"C'mon... Let's go inside..." he offered to his student, "Tsunami said that the town feast would be done soon and she's making salt-broiled fish for the entire town. I can't wait to dig into some of that!"

Naruto waved to him and said, "I'll be right there. I want to take in the ocean for a few more minutes. Who knows when I'll ever see it again?"

The older shinobi shrugged and started to walk back to the house, but not before he stopped and looked at the sun one more time when it looked like the skies around the horizon were set on fire. The sight was incredible to watch; despite the numerous times Kakashi had seen it on his countless missions over the course of his shinobi career.

"I've seen it a thousand and one times over... and it never seems to change..."

Naruto still looked out towards the sun and couldn't help but think about Haku while his fear about the demon fox started to fade. He still wished that she were alive and that the two of them could be out there on the beach to watch as the sun burned their faces. But she was gone and he would never be able to see her again. Naruto sighed and placed his elbow on his knee so that he could slump his chin on his palm. He looked out towards the sun and watched as the flares erupted out of the horizon and smelled the sea that breathed into his face. But then his vision almost seemed to deceive him. Naruto could have sworn that he saw a flare begin to soar across the ocean. He then heard an ethereal sound break out across the ocean that caused him to shoot his head towards the sun.

{{_Fawkes is Reborn + Tears of the Phoenix by John Williams_}}

He looked back at the sea and saw the same unusual flare from before and realized that it wasn't a flare at all. It was a bird that was more than the size of a swan with red and golden plumage that made it seem as if it were on fire. The noise that had earned his attention was the animal letting out a wonderful screech that sounded like a song. The massive bird soared across the ocean towards the coast of the Land of Waves and almost seemed to leave a trail of fire as if the creature had burst out from the sun. Naruto focused his vision and fixated his sight on the bird before he let out a loud gasp.

The creature was a phoenix.

The scarlet animal soared across the sea and let out another verse in its incredible screech. The creature then looked towards the blonde-haired child that sat down on the rock on the beach. Naruto stood up and let his mouth fall open while his older brother remained frozen and speechless at the sight of the creature. He confirmed that it was a real phoenix based on the song when he heard it and felt the sound vibrate inside his chest and heartstrings. Naruto watched as the bird made a sudden turn and encircled the area around the beach. It continued to sing and Naruto followed the creature while it slowed down its flight and soon touched down onto the beach, with its golden talons stuffed into the earth to keep itself still as it observed Naruto.

The speechless blonde wizard remained as still as a statue while he watched as the creature moved and approached him. Naruto stood a few feet from it but still did not dare to make an advance and scare it. The bird was now so close that he could see its beetle-black eyes and the details of its long and intricate tail.

'_That's a phoenix._'

'_**Yeah…**_'

'_It's a phoenix!_'

'_**I noticed…**_'

The creature walked around the area in the sand and studied Naruto. The beautiful bird approached the preteen until its beetle-black eyes met his cerulean-blue irises to make a detailed observation. The creature tilted it slender neck and stretched out far enough for Naruto to stroke it. The blonde preteen took it as a cue and reached one trembling hand out and stroked the feathers that pressed against its throat. Naruto could feel its pulse and could feel an unnatural warmth radiate from inside its veins, as if its blood were made out of fire. The phoenix then released several fresh tears that fell down Naruto's arm and seeped through the clothes and onto his skin. The blonde preteen felt the cold tears touch his skin and felt them become absorbed like some sponge. The tears then entered his bloodstream and started to cleanse Naruto of the damage that the demon fox forced upon him. His muscles soon felt loose and normal after he had stroked the creature's neck a few more times and more tears landed on his hand. The clear liquid was then absorbed into his skin and spread through his entire cardiovascular system. He soon removed his hand from the phoenix and took a step back to give it its own personal space. The creature nodded its head and almost seemed to smile in appreciation for Naruto's consideration as well as the smooth and kind human contact it received.

Naruto couldn't help but utter the first name that came to him as he started to remember the scenes from the Pensieve and he addressed the creature as, "_F-Fawkes…_"

The phoenix bowed its head down to the blonde preteen while it stretched out its tail feathers and revealed the hot golden feathers of its backside to him. The child watched as the phoenix moved its slender scarlet neck and reached back towards its tail. With its brilliant beak, the phoenix plucked a single golden feather and then arched its back to bow down to the blonde-haired wizard once more. The beautiful creature then dropped the feather from its beak and presented it to Naruto. The blonde preteen was still frozen to the spot while he looked down at the feather and watched as the sand beneath it burned until black. But soon, the feather cooled down and turned into a magnificent shade of scarlet. The shinobi was careful when he reached down and picked up the feather that was warm to the touch. Naruto looked up at the magnificent creature and watched as it bowed to him one more time. The phoenix then spread out its massive wings and thrust them down to propel itself back into the air. Naruto shielded his face with his arms from the sand that was blown in his face and looked up as the bird flew back towards the direction of the sun.

"No… WAIT!" he shouted, "FAWKES! COME BACK! FAWKES!"

But the bird did not turn around, and continued its course towards the sun while it continued it earlier screech. Naruto ran after the bird until he was ankle-deep in cold salt-water. There he watched as the glorious creature flew out towards the sun, just as the last flames burst out through the horizon and blinded the preteen for a moment. Once his vision had returned, the phoenix had vanished, as did its wonderful song.

"I don't… I don't understand, Nii-san… Was that Fawkes, or was that just some random phoenix?"

'_**I don't know… it could have been him… If it were, then it means that you and me are from the same world. Just different time periods… But there's still a chance that I landed inside another world… There's the matter concerning the geographical and historical changes that come into account. None of which I can prove or disprove with what evidence I have at the moment.**_'

'_The short version, please?_'

'_**I have no idea… Absolutely no idea… But… a part of me wants to believe that we're in the same world… How much I would love to be in the same place I left behind… You have no idea…**_'

'_Still… This is insane… Phoenixes are real… That was a real phoenix and it gave me its tail feather!_'

'_**Didn't you once mention phoenix-related legends to Sakura a few weeks ago? When they spread their wings and bring their fortune to the downtrodden? It seems curious. And for the record, that was a pathetic advance.**_'

"Yeah, Nii-san…" he admitted, "But that was just a legend I read about… it's supposed to be make-believe…"

'_**Doesn't look like that now, does it? You felt a little down about Haku and there comes the bird, like in the book… Curious…**_'

"I suppose it's not make-believe, then…" he paused as he looked down at the feather and then he said, "And for the record, I would love to see you do better, Nii-san…"

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><p>To Be Continued…<p>

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><p><strong>And that's how Naruto obtains a core! Be sure to leave behind a review, please!<strong>

**Naruto: Nice! This was alright as far as falling action goes!**

**K: Again it's not the best I've written but it's falling action and some foreshadowing. It's supposed to be epic, I don't think.**

**Iruka: Still it's nice. The little scene on the beach was sweet. The music cue this time was nice. It's hard to find the track, but again, it's nice. **

**K: Thanks! I thought it was perfect to symbolize Kakashi and Naruto's friendship and the special bond the two of them share in this tale; it's like Obito and Minato are back in Kakashi's life.**

**(Iruka and Naruto run out as fast as possible)**

**Azeroth44: Their relationship could be parallel to that of Harry's and Lupin's during the third film and book. The same music plays while the two are seen bonding while Harry's friends are at Hogsmeade.**

**K: I never thought of it like that, Azeroth. That's sweet and WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?**

**AZ44: Went to the hospital. Got fixed up. End of story.**

**K: So... You're not contagious, right?**

**AZ44: I never said that I was cured. I said I was fixed.**

**K: ... Well then... whatever disease Azeroth44 has released, I should set out for cure... Assuming there is one.**

**AZ44: There isn't.**

**K: OF COURSE THERE ISN'T!**

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><p><strong>Remember to review!<strong>


	15. The Bridge of the Hero

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura

'_Blah_': Naruto's Thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

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><p><strong>Hello readers and friends! I'm back so soon, I know. Well, I decided to post this chapter a little bit earlier than anticipated, since this one is much shorter and that it's an extension of the previous one. I also decided to make this post and conclude the Land of Waves Arc, move on to the conclusion of Book 2, and then move on to re-writing Book 3, the Chunin Exams, which could take some time, but it will be so much better once it's done.<strong>

**Azeroth44: (takes a brownie) I'm looking forward to that. **

**K: You think you deserve a brownie after you infected me with whatever contagion you brought in here?**

**AZ44: Well... Yeah.**

**K: You little bastard...**

**AZ44: Would it piss you off if it turned out that I faked the illness and made you freak out for more than 24 hours just for the fun of it?**

**K: Very much.**

**AZ44: Then never mind.**

**K: Which reminds me, how's your Naruto/Doctor Who fanfic coming along?**

**AZ44: (pauses) I'm working on it.**

**K: That's what you said last time.**

**AZ44: Well, it's a working process! **

**K: Again. You said that last time.**

**AZ44: SHUT UP!**

**HA! HA! Anyway, guys! Be sure to comment on this chapter or the previous chapters if that has not been done so yet, and I will get straight back to work.**

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><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted! PLEASE!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto,**

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling,**

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><p>Chapter 15: The Bridge of the Hero<p>

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><p>Some time around sunset, Naruto was outside at the edge of a cliff that hovered over Tazuna's home. From there, he could see the entire coastline until it curved back into the island. He had been there all afternoon, sending shadow clones out to all the various beaches and shores around the Land of Waves, in the hopes that he could find the creature that had presented him with the red feather. Naruto waited each afternoon since that incident until each sunset, but the phoenix did not return to one of the beaches. The blonde-haired preteen waited and watched as the sun set each afternoon but no scarlet bird burst out through the flames and released its unforgettable and magical cries. When the sun released its last bursts of solar energies and erupted over the horizon, the blonde shinobi sighed as the skies turned dark and the seas turned a hue of lavender.<p>

The blonde shinobi soon stood and placed his hands in his pockets as he looked down towards the house and then looked out towards the sea, as did his countless shadow clones across the various islands. Back inside the house, the shadow clone that was stationed with his teammates stared out the window and watched the outside world darken while the real Naruto waited a little bit more, in the hopes that the phoenix would arrive when he least expected it. But soon, the older wizard inside his mindscape reached out to him.

'_**He's not coming back, Little one… I'm sorry… it looks like it was a one-time deal…**_'

The real Naruto let his head fall a little bit forward in depression as he dismissed his shadow clones with the exception of the one inside the house, "I summed that up too... You think we'll ever be able to see it again?"

'_**I dunno... But once I get a body of my own, I could track it down and observe it... Well, maybe not so much observe it as much as I would invite it as another companion, a lot like a familiar… Although no bird on any world could ever replace Hedwig…**_'

The blonde child smiled but then sighed, "Let's hope that we can find it, Nii-san... But I should head back to the house... It's the last night here on this mission… I should make the most of it and be with the others."

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><p>The next morning was the morning when the shinobi from Konoha had to return home with their mission accomplished. The team's once-simple assignment to escort an old man back to his home and watch his construction took them well over an entire month, a fraction of their summer in the Land of Waves. Gatō had been exterminated, the massive bridge had been connected to the mainland, and the mission was now over. All the four shinobi had to do now was leave and survive the arduous road that would lead them back home. Naruto and the others woke earlier than usual on the last sunrise and made the last preparations for their trip back home.<p>

When the blonde shinobi woke up, his teammate Sasuke had stormed out of the bedroom before he even had a chance to talk to him. It would seem that ever since the incident inside the ice dome, Sasuke had been embarrassed or ashamed that he had been so out-there with his teammate, so he wanted his distance, as did Naruto. Once the Uchiha vanished, the blonde shinobi searched through his beaded backpack to check his potions and started to store in his comic books and clothes. While he stored in his tracksuits, the blonde shinobi couldn't help but think back to Haku and Zabuza and the future those two could have had, had the battle turned in their favor and both the assassin and the kunoichi survived. It could have been possible to defect them to Konoha and could have become neighbors with their former enemies.

But in the end it didn't turn out as well as he wanted. But at least those two lost souls could be together in the afterlife, he supposed. Naruto clenched the last tracksuit in his collection and then let it fall into his beaded backpack as he accepted what had happened to his former enemies and searched the rest of the bedroom for his other possessions.

He checked over his bed and collected the red phoenix feather, which turned out to be the last trinket he had left other than some kunai and two shuriken. Naruto held the precious feather in his hand and stared at it for a while. He stroked the ends of the smooth and warm material, still unable to believe that it was his to treasure. Since the bird had come down and left it to him, so he assumed the creature wanted him to have it. Naruto touched the feather one last time and then he tucked it between the pages of one of his favorite comic books.

* * *

><p>At about twelve o'clock at noon, Team 7 walked down to the bridge to leave and head home. The three shinobi and one kunoichi strolled through the island one last time, and when the team made it to the massive structure all of them were met with a surprising sight. The entire commune of the Land of Waves had gathered in united celebration as all of them wished to see off the people that had saved them all from their poverty and despair. The crowds had gathered at the stairs that led up to the bridge, crowding the entrance and the accessible ramps for export and import. The citizens cheered, whistled, screamed, and cried as all of them made room for the team and showered them with fresh white flower peddles and woven crowns made from vines and more flowers.<p>

Naruto laughed as he batted some of the peddles out of his face. Sasuke looked irritated as he continued to shake the peddles out of his hair. Kakashi let his hair become filled with them and even wore a crown, as he was unbothered and appreciated the praise. Sakura smiled and laughed like her blonde teammate; while she looked around and spotted the faces of people she had seen when she went into town. She even spotted the small beggar-girl that asked for her sweets, and she gave her an enthusiastic wave. Sakura waved back and noticed that she and her teammates had arrived at the top of the stairs.

As soon as the team reached the entrance to their road, Tazuna, Tsunami, Inari, and the various workmen were there to bid the shinobi farewell. All of them smiled at their unusual friends with sadness evident on their faces, as this was suspected to be the last time they would ever see them again. Tazuna stood out more than the others, as if he were the crowned ruler of the small island nation. The wizard that observed the scene from the mindscape had a strange feeling that the old man might have actually been the man that ruled the Land of Waves this whole time, since no man of power came to greet them. Not to mention that out of all the men in the commune, he was the best dressed, while he never wore robe or even a kimono.

"We could have never been able to finish this bridge without you..." the old man removed his glasses and rubbed out a tear from his face as he continued, "We cannot tell you how much we are going to miss having you here..."

Tsunami waved with a sad smile on her face, "You folks be careful out there."

The other men that stood around their leader all nodded their heads in their own gesture of appreciation and a farewell without making it too personal or tearful.

Kakashi smiled at the small crowd and nodded his head in a courteous manner, "Thanks, Tazuna-san. We very much appreciated the hospitality."

The team's masked instructor was the first one to bid farewell and shook Tazuna's hand, despite the fact that he still felt as if he were robbed of his services, as he was given an insufficient amount of cash for the difficult mission. But still, he felt like he and his students accomplished something a little bit more worthwhile, so he stood there in silence as he moved on and said his farewell to Tsunami and her son. Sakura was next and she too shook hands with Tazuna and bid farewell to Tsunami, although her departure to the old man was short due to her abhorrence towards him even still. Sasuke nodded his head to all of the people who wished to bid him farewell, since he didn't want to touch them. It wasn't until it was Naruto's turn did their farewells become difficult and reluctant. The blonde shinobi felt saddened that he might not be able to come back to this island soon in the future. He had spent an entire month here in this town filled with all these people that looked to him as if he were the hero. But he couldn't stick around and had to return to his home and pursue his own dreams.

The blonde preteen walked up to Tazuna and shook his hand; the old man padded him on his shoulder as well and told him that if he ever needed some work done on his home in Konoha, then he knew whom to call. Naruto smiled up to him and turned to Tsunami who gave him a kiss upon his scarred forehead once she lifted his headband a little. And then he came down to Inari, who looked miserable that Naruto was about to leave.

The dark-haired child sniffed as he struggled to hold back his tears, "You'll c-come b-back, r-right?"

"Yeah..." he answered back with a small smile, "But don't be sad, Inari. I bet that we'll see each other again soon."

Inari's tears then leaked out and ran down his face as he asked once more, "You p-p-promise? You promise to come back?"

The smaller child then ceased his tears and sobs when Naruto knelt down to his level and embraced him. He returned the gesture at once while Naruto patted his hand on the small child's back, which caused his tears to stop flowing down his face. He looked up and saw, to his surprise, that Naruto had a few tears run down his own face, as if he had absorbed Inari's misfortune and took it for himself. The other members of the team were taken aback with this gesture and had their own mixed feelings about it. Sasuke didn't think all that much about it and decided to look towards the ocean until it was over. Sakura appeared a little irritated while her teammate wasted more time. But their silver-haired teacher looked on with a cute, hidden-smile underneath his masked face because he found the scene to be adorable.

Naruto soon detached from the short embrace and looked down at the short child. Unlike Inari, Naruto seemed to be calm but still sad and reluctant to leave these lands. The blonde shinobi placed his hands on Inari's shoulders and then smiled a little bit more.

"Don't forget about our time here, Inari… Don't forget that it's okay to cry whenever you're happy… But it's also okay to cry whenever you really need to…"

With that said and done, the short-haired child started to smile a little as well as he cleaned his own face with his t-shirt. Naruto then stood as he cleaned his own face and rustled Inari's black hair and then returned to his team and faced the citizens of the island nation.

* * *

><p><em>It started out as a feeling<em>

_Which then grew into a hope_

_Which then turned into a quiet thought_

_Which then turned into a quiet word_

* * *

><p>Team 7 gazed upon all the various faces of the people whose hearts had be restored with wealth and hope. The entire town watched as their savior's waved together to announce their official departure. Tazuna looked up towards Naruto in particular and wished that he could take back all of the times he had doubted him or made fun of him for his small stature, since it was because of that blonde troublemaker that his grandson had come back to the light and could smile once again.<p>

* * *

><p><em>And then that word grew louder and louder<em>

_'Til it was a battle cry_

* * *

><p>The team from Konoha soon turned as the last of the citizens sent out their blessings and wished them a safe trip home. While the shinobi turned their backs to the town and it's people, Naruto couldn't help but look back one last time as Inari tried again not to weep as Tazuna placed a hand on his grandson's shoulder and nodded to the blonde preteen out of respect for the first time.<p>

* * *

><p><em>I'll come back<em>

_When you call me_

_No need to say goodbye_

* * *

><p>Naruto sniffed as he would miss seeing all those people but kept moving his feet forward and looked right ahead of him while Sakura gave the blonde shinobi a flat look, thinking her teammate to be a total and complete wuss because he had cried in front of her.<p>

While he continued to tread alongside his teammates, he soon stopped as he felt his foot press against a solid, glass-like object. He looked down to see a bright blue shard. Naruto knelt down and picked it up to inspect it and discovered that it was ice-cold to the touch. Upon closer inspection, it was revealed to be a piece of solid ice; a shard from the last mirror that Haku ever created. Naruto stood up and looked into the mirror shard to see a perfect reflection of his face. He tilted it in his hand, and for one split second, he could have sworn that he caught a glimpse of pale skin and one dark-brown iris. But when he tilted it back to the same position, it was his reflection again.

* * *

><p><em>Just because every thing's changing<em>

_Doesn't mean it's never been this way before_

_All you can do is try to know_

_Who your friends are as you head off to the war_

* * *

><p>Naruto contemplated for a split second; whether he should leave the shard where it once stood, throw it into the sea and hope that it would melt, or keep it with him. When he looked down at the crystal, he had tilted it down far enough to see his teammates and watched as the team realized that their blonde companion had stopped and waited for him to follow them. Naruto made up his mind at once as he secretly slipped the crystal into his right pocket and ran back to his friends.<p>

He then thought as the shard fell into his pocket, '_Haku-chan… I'll never forget…_'

* * *

><p><em>Pick a star on the dark horizon<em>

_And follow the light_

* * *

><p>Once he had caught up with his teammates, he was welcomed with Kakashi patting him on the shoulder while Sasuke scoffed at his partner's hesitation. Sakura sighed when both her teammates started shooting looks back at each other and wanted to be back at home. To lighten the mood for the long trip back home, Naruto rambled on about his plans for when the team would arrive back at Konohagakure no Sato.<p>

"I can't wait to get back home! Iruka-aniki is bound to treat me to Ichiraku Ramen to celebrate a mission well done! And then I might see little Konohamaru at the Sarutobi estate and tell him all about our adventures this past month! I can see the look on his face right now!"

Sakura responded with, "Yeah, whatever... Um, Sasuke-kun, I was wondering if, when we get back home, would you like to go out with me?"

"Uh, no thanks, Sakura," the Uchiha answered while he tried to stare at the mainland in the distance.

The pink-haired pariah let her head sink while she kept walking, "Oh, uh, ok then..."

"Sakura-chan," her energetic teammate interrupted the moment as he wished to cheer his teammate up, "If you want, _we_ could do something together when we get back!"

The fangirl turned almost livid and saw Naruto's request as an insult to her defeat, "You baka! That was a private conversation!"

She then grabbed Naruto by his left cheek and started tugging at his flesh until it started to bruise, meanwhile the blonde shinobi started to whine at her to cut it out. While Sakura continued teasing her blonde companion, Sasuke let himself smile for a change, though he hid his face from view using the frames of his coal-black hair. Their teacher looked over all his students, seeing them alive and well after going through this life-altering month from home. He felt so grateful that none of them were harmed beyond repair, though he was still concerned about the incident of the bridge when he sensed the red demon chakra. But for now, he would let it slide until he had to file the mission report and have some fun with his precious students.

* * *

><p><em>You'll come back<em>

_When it's over_

_No need to say goodbye x2_

* * *

><p>Kakashi let out a sigh as Sakura continued with tugging at her teammate's cheek to teach him a lesson about private conversations.<p>

"Oww," shouted Naruto, "What are you doing? Cut it out, Sakura-chan!"

She retorted, "Yeah! You have think twice before you ask a woman for anything right after she's been rejected!"

Back at the start of the massive structure, the people of the Land of Waves continued to look on as the shinobi started to disappear through the heat waves that radiated off the fresh and clean concrete. Tazuna and his friends huddled together while some of them tried to clean their faces when some of the citizens believed none of them would be able to return and visit their town again.

Tazuna then said with a soft voice, "That kid... Naruto Uzumaki... He has touched Inari's little heart... And Inari in turn touched the hearts of our people and given them back the courage that Gatō tried to take from us... That shinobi over there built the bridge that eventually carried us all to the land of hope and courage... We owe him our lives and much, much more..."

Most of the people around Tazuna smiled at what he said while the others nodded in agreement. One of the other carpenters then mentioned an important detail about their marvelous creation.

"Tazuna," asked Giichi, "What do you think we should name it? We haven't given the bridge a name."

The old man thought about a name for a little while since he was the one that designed and created it. After several minutes, he decided on a name and wouldn't accept another than the one he had in mind.

"There's only one name that I can think of that fits," he said as he stared out.

Inari looked up to his grandfather and asked as the old man hesitated but would soon answer in a calm, proud voice, "What are you going to call it? What is it?"

"... The Great Naruto Bridge..."

Inari and the rest of the citizens of the islands looked back to the landmark and imagined hundreds of people from all over the world coming in to catch a glance of the bridge named after the hero that had saved their home from destruction at the hands of a corrupt and evil businessman. The people smiled as the bridge couldn't have had a more perfect name and nodded their heads as the sun reflected off the surface of the painted archways that marked the shores of the Land of Waves and far out to the west where a gleam of gold marked the shores of the Land of Fire.

Tsunami smiled and laughed a little as she agreed, "It's sounds like a wonderful name, dad..."

"This bridge will last for a long time to come... always standing tall and never giving in no matter how many waves crash against it's pillars or how much sea life will grow upon it..." said Tazuna as he continued to stare out, "Our bridge might one day become world-famous, and stand as an example of the courage and bravery that that young man helped us all to remember and to keep in our hearts for all time..."

The citizens all watched as the team started to dissolve into the heat-waves radiating off the concrete before the images disappeared from view to march on toward their future.

* * *

><p>To Be Continued<p>

* * *

><p><strong>There we have it folks, I hope you enjoyed the journey because I certainly enjoyed writing it. With the exception of the deaths of Haku and Zabuza. I hated killing them off, but I gave them a good close-to-canon run. And I hope I entertained as I intended and I would love to read some reviews. It's a nice feeling to cover what I think is one of the greatest Naruto story arcs Kishimoto ever wrote. I think I did alright as far as adaptations go. But let's hear your opinions, let me know in the reviews, I would love to read them! <strong>

**Until next time, folks!**

**Oh! One more note! The song that was used was called The Call by Regina Spektor from The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian**


	16. Confession

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura

'_Blah_': Naruto's thought/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

* * *

><p><strong>Hello readers and friends! <strong>

**Now I know what you're thinking: How could I possibly continue the story if I ended the previous chapter on such a decent note? ****Well, the answer is that there are still some loose ends to tie with this tale. ****So I decided that I will prolong the story until all the loose ends have been tied that will help bridge the gap from Book 2 to Book 3. This chapter will be the first of a three-part finale, or rather, an epilogue that connects this book with the next. I will post about two more chapters and then the tale will be 100% complete! I can't wait to finish this one!**

**Until next time, please enjoy and remember to review at the end!**

* * *

><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto**

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling and Warner Bros**

* * *

><p>Chapter 16: Confession<p>

* * *

><p>The Sandaime Hokage almost let his pipe fall out from his mouth when Kakashi finished his report on the Tazuna mission.<p>

The masked shinobi did not bother with dropping off the written report in an office somewhere else, and instead went straight to the Hokage right after he dropped off his students and gave them their share of the credits earned from the mission. When he arrived at the office, Kakashi made sure no one would listen in on the conversation that soon followed. He approached the old man's desk and handed him over the documents and then told him what had happened concerning the demon chakra he sensed and what Naruto informed him when the two of them talked on the beach. The old man's skin had turned a subtle shade lighter and his ancient brown eyes were laced with concern for his adopted grandson.

"Are you certain of this," he asked after a long pause, "Are you sure, Kakashi?"

He answered with a meek nod, "Positive, Hokage-sama. I'll never forget that energy."

"Hmm..." mused the old man.

The Hokage stared at the masked man while he was lost within a trance of constructive thought. He was concerned and almost scared when he heard that Naruto had lost control and the beast sealed inside him had come out through a small slip or crack in the seal.

"Did you notice him doing anything strange," the old man asked, "Did he example any side-effects after he was possessed?"

Kakashi did not hesitate to answer, "No. He was just upset and a little shaken. The chakra of the fox was gone before I could even get to him. After we buried Zabuza and the girl, he seemed troubled but he came around in the end. What disturbed me was when he told me what it felt like to him. Naruto said that he _hated_ the sensation of the demon's chakra. He told me… he told me that it felt like he was on fire… He also had a few nightmares after the experience, but he was back to normal when we were coming home... Well, as normal as someone like him can be. He's still the same lovable little knuckleheaded ninja…"

"Very well," the kind old man sighed, "if that's all that happened…"

The jounin asked once he remembered his promise to his student, "What do you suppose we should do, Hokage-sama?"

"I knew this would eventually happen, but not this soon..." he answered, "The seal was designed to allow their chakra to mix and for Naruto to use it as he saw fit. He shouldn't experience such pain if a possession on a level that low should ever happen to him... Perhaps it's because he rejects the fox's power on instinct…" the old man breathed in smoke from his pipe and then sighed again, "There shouldn't be any side-effects, as he appears to be normal again. But watch over him just to be sure. I do not want him to be neglected nor should he be chaperoned, Kakashi... Report back to me at the end of the week…"

Kakashi bowed to his boss and said, "It will be done, sir."

* * *

><p>{{<em>The Briefcase by James Horner<em>}}

Naruto returned to his apartment around seven o'clock in the morning. Where he locked his door and closed the windows except for the one in his bedroom. He would have loved to visit Iruka or bunk over the first chance he had, but he had checked in with the security booth and found out that the chunin was on a mission and wouldn't be back for a at least another week. So he decided to remain at his old apartment until his real-life older brother came back home.

The blonde-haired shinobi had snuck into his room, avoiding the landlord and his wife while the two were having another one of their financial arguments. He locked up his door and dropped onto his bed with his beaded backpack still in his hands. He let out a breath of relief into his pillow and almost fell back asleep until he rolled onto his side and started rummaging through his comic books for the scarlet phoenix feather. Naruto rolled onto his back and let his bag fall to the ground while he held the shining red feather above his head and gazed up at it in wonder. He now came to realize that he now had a genuine magical artifact that should not have existed in this world, but there it was, pinched between his fingers like a ballpoint pen.

'_What do you suppose we do with this, Harry?_'

'_**I dunno...**_'

'_Heh! __We've been given a feather from the tail of an actual magical creature and we don't know what to do with it. We sure are _great_ wizards...!_'

There was a silence for a while. Naruto listened as he heard the couple several floors bellow him shout at each other but he ignored it and continued to twist and wave the scarlet feather in his hands. He changed his grip and pretended that it was the wand he used in the mindscape. He swished it and flicked it but nothing happened. It still felt warm to the touch, which confirmed that the substance was magical. But still, Naruto had no idea what to do with it until his companion saw what he was doing and came up with one of the most brilliant and obvious ideas in his afterlife.

'_**I've got an idea!**_'

'_What?_'

'_**How about we fashion you a wand, you blithering idiot? Out there in the real world!**_'

'_We could do that?_'

'_**So long as I can instruct you through it, I think it's very possible! Besides, I feel it's for the best. I kept noticing, during your battles in the Land of Waves, that some of your defensive spells could be penetrated through simple physical means and that you're normal spells and curses are ineffective unless I help power them. Remember when that Stunning Spell hit that one shinobi in the shoulder but didn't knock him out? Or when that Shield Charm failed to protect you and sasuke Uchiha from those senbon needles in the ice chamber?**_'

The boy flinched as he remembered the more gruesome details of those final battles, '_Ugh... Don't remind me..._'

'_**The snapping of the fingers has always been a flawed method of spellcasting in your case. If you were able to produce a wand in the real world, then the effects of your spells would be the same as they are in the mindscape, if not, enhanced more so. I won't have to keep empowering them from now on... Hold on tight for one second, I have to check something in my office…**_'

Back in the mindscape, the older wizard summoned a book he had stored in his desk about instructional wandlore and searched for the right method to craft a wand in Naruto's world. With a wave of his slender hand, the book's pages flipped like mad until he had found the right instructions. It was an alchemical transmutation circle specifically designed to create wands in ancient times when wandmakers used less efficient methods to create wands. This outline was the one method that Naruto might be able to use, since he did not have any of the required tools or machines that modern wandmakers like Ollivander had to use. The main symbol for this transmutation circle was one large circle, with a triangle inside it and three separate key symbols that represented the skies, moon, and sun. There were also four several more symbols that represented the basic four elements; water, earth, fire, and wind. There were complicated lines and even more circles within the largest circle and there were words written in Latin all over the transmutation formula.

Harry smirked while he studied the details of the instructions and laughed when he discovered that it was possible for them to have this done, albeit it would takes some time. All the two of them needed was the phoenix feather, the wood of an ivy tree, some rocks, and a mass amount of open space so that the circle can be drawn in full-scale.

'_**Fantastic! We can do this! Let's get started before you have to go on another life-threatening mission.**_'

'_Yes! Now I can be _real_ wizard! This is brilliant!_'

* * *

><p>Later on in the week, Naruto traveled deep into the woods after a chakra-training session with the rest of the team. He was in search of a field large enough and isolated to his taste for the transmutation circle for his wand to be drawn.<p>

While he traveled through the woods without another care in the world, he decided to take in the atmosphere and take advantage of his isolation from the villagers and the rest of civilization. So he pressed his fingers to his throat and muttered an incantation that created a subtle golden orb inside his throat. He then cleared his throat and started to hum a tune in Scottish Gaelic that was once sung to him when he was little.

"_Feasgar ciùin an tùs a' Chèitein, Nuair bha 'n ialtag anns na speuran, Chualaim rìbhinn òg 's i deurach, 'Seinn fo sgàil nan geugan uain…_"

After about fifteen minutes, he found a nice meadow located in the western woods that had a flat enough ground for a circle to be carved into the earth. For a few hours, the boy dragged a small boulder around the clearing in the forest before he used a kunai to carve in the more intricate details into the earth. As soon as he was done, he used a spell with his companion's assistance that would keep the dirt undisturbed and unnoticed, this invisible 'barrier' was created incase he did not return over a certain period of time. He then had the markings covered with small stones and various leaves and sticks, so that he could relocate the site and so that the marks wouldn't be discovered or disturbed for good measure. Naruto would have to carve them back into the earth later if the preservation spells wore off, but that would be easier now that he carved out the basic designs. It took him hours, but it was worth it in the end when he wiped the sweat from his brow and smiled at his creation.

'_**It could still use a few more tweaks and tune-ups, but it's a start. The charms placed around it will keep most people from noticing.**_'

Naruto smiled, "Now all we need to do is find the wood of the correct tree. Ivy. That's the same material that my wand in the mindscape is made of, right?"

'_**That's right... Now, do you know where we can find an ivy tree?**_'

The preteen wiped some more sweat from his exposed brow and thought where he could find the correct tree. He looked around the area and then he realized for the first time in his life that this was not Europe. The most common and abundant trees in this nation were all created through the Shodai Hokage and had no specified identification. He wracked his brain for other trees he had seen outside the village, but when he thought about it enough, the most he's seen were some pine trees in the Land of Waves with a few oak and beechwood trees. Naruto then realized that he had no possible idea where he could find the tree wood required for his wand, or that it even existed in this world. Out of frustration, the blonde wizard kicked the closest tree he could find and caused the bark to crack upon impact and he shouted.

"STUPID CELTIC CALENDAR!"

* * *

><p>{{<em>Wandering Day 5 + Lovesick Ron by James Hannigan<em>}}

Harry and Naruto were left in some serious trouble when the two of them had no idea where they could start searching for the required wood that would comprise the wand.

Wandering around the endless forests of the village wouldn't get them any closer towards their goal. So they decided to take a breath and do what Hermione Granger would do whenever she was in doubt; go to the library.

At first it seemed like a simple task ahead of them; a quick breeze through a couple of books and the two of them would be one step closer towards their goal. But the cards were not in their favor because this village wasn't Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it was Konohagakure no Sato. And in this village there were doors Naruto was never allowed to enter, while others could waltz right in. That included the front and backdoors of the massive public library that was run by Sakura Haruno's indignant and chauvinistic parents, Toshiro and Setsuna Haruno.

He would have to put on a good disguise if he wished to get inside without being kicked out.

Naruto left his apartment sometime in the middle of the morning and walked down to the library without being noticed. He traversed across the town and hid himself within the shadows of an abandoned movie theater across the street. Once he was there, he spied on the front entrance of the building and retreated back into the shadows of the theater to think up a plan. He stood next to an old ticket booth and focused on his telepathic connection to his older brother.

'_There's our destination, Nii-san… It feels a lot like the time we snuck into the Academy all those years ago._'

'_**Yes. Only the stakes are a lot less high this time around.**_'

'_What form do you think I should assume when we get inside and get the books we need?_'

'_**So many different options there... It's kind of difficult to decide... But just to avoid running into the person you change into, assume a random form of someone from a book or a movie. But not a character that is well-known or would catch anyone's attention…**_'

'_What a shame… I was going to pretend to be Kakashi-sensei… I can do a good impression of him…_' he cleared his throat and then said with his sensei's exact voice, "Sorry I'm late. I was lost on the road of life…"

'_**Actually, that was pretty good...!**_'

Naruto pondered for a few minutes and tried to think up of an original form instead of assuming the form of someone he knew. He thought over his character for several minutes before he had a flashback and remembered a science fiction comic book he read as a small child and remembered the clothes that the main character wore. Naruto smirked before he formed a simple handsign and disappeared into a cloud of white smoke.

The blonde shinobi called out, "_Henge no Jutsu!_"

He emerged from the cloud of smoke as a tall, lean, handsome, dark red-haired man with fair skin. His new red hair was flattened forward at the top while the rest of it shot out forwards. He also had handsome red sideburns that ran down his cheeks. He also had a impressive set of clothes to match his disguise, which consisted of a black leather jacket, dark trousers, leather shoes, and a v-neck thin sweater that almost matched the color of his hair. The disguised genin shook strands of his new red hair out of his face and made his way towards the library, intent on finding the right books he needed to search for that tree. When he walked through the door, he was taken by storm at how massive and multi-leveled the building was on the inside. Naruto did not waste time with observation and approached the circular desk located at the heart of the central area. He saw a multitude of librarians and assistants sorting and re-organizing books that some visitors were checking in or checking out. He spotted a woman with the same eyes as his female teammate and identified her as Setsuna Haruno.

The genin approached the woman with ease and used his handsome looks and British charm to get what he needed out of her. The older woman looked up at the tall and handsome red-haired man standing in front of her and became breathless when she studied his face and his sculpted stature. Even though she was still wearing a golden ring on her finger, she blushed and spoke to the man as if she were on a date with him.

"Good morning! How can I assist you?" she asked in a kind voice.

The disguised preteen answered, "Hello! I'm... Dr. Remus Lupin. I am a local botanist in need of some books about botany and dendrology."

"I'm sorry, what is that exactly?" she asked again after some hesitation.

The wizard in the mindscape commented with a harsh mumble about the woman's intellect, '_**Like mother, like daughter.**__**..**_'

"I require books on the study of trees and plants," the handsome doctor answered as he ignored his older brother, "I'm looking for a special tree that grows somewhere around this region, but I need the resources that can tell me where I can find it. Do you think you might have something that could help me?"

"Yes!" she answered and blushed, "Yes we do! If you will please follow me..."

The disguised genin smirked as he followed the older woman to the elevator and escalated seven floors. The three of them arrived at the seventh floor and cruised through numerous stacks and shelves full to the brim with literature. All the while, Naruto couldn't help but notice as Sakura's mother tried to grab his arm while she led him to the right place around the section of the floor that was dedicated to science and nature. He could see the woman's cheeks turn pink in his presence and knew then that his charm was working, and obtaining those books would be almost effortless. Meanwhile, in the mindscape, the older wizard furrowed his brow and scowled at the woman as she reminded him of the pink-haired teenaged fangirl that he despised. It made him sick to his stomach to watch this woman start to come on to his little brother despite the fact that she was married and more than triple his age. The older wizard suddenly came up with another idea in the hopes that it would help his small brother learn.

'_**I hope that you are aware that this woman and her husband are your teammate Sakura's parents, correct?**_'

'_Yeah, I know that._'

'_**So why can't you put two and two together to make four? These people despise you.**_'

'_Their behavior towards me is to be expected. The two of them just don't want their daughter running off with some troublesome guy like me. There's also the Kyuubi bit, but that's aside the point._'

'_**That's not the point at all, you lovesick moron!**_'

But their conversation turned to a close when Setsuna turned Naruto towards a special corridor lined with thick and fat books centered on plants, trees, herbalism, and geography. The disguised genin could not believe what he saw when he was taken aback at the immense amount of literature in this one section. He had never seen such a vast collection of books centered around one subject except for the collection of books in the mindscape. There was also a window at the end of the corridor and a desk set up so that Naruto could read in peace.

"Here we are!" she presented with pride, "This entire section is dedicated to what you have described to me. I hope you find it to your liking."

Naruto picked up the first book to his left and opened it to find a complete readout of trees grown in specified regions of the Land of Fire. He had opened up to a chapter that was about a rare red tree that grew in the eastern forests in the Land of Fire that produced natural flammable fuel that was used in modern motors and engines. The next page was about a tree that consumed chakra and produced a paper that could determine a shinobi's element. His smile widened even more and then he closed the book.

"Fantastic!" he exclaimed, "I think I'll be good here! Thanks!"

Setsuna bowed her head to the red-haired man and turned to leave him alone for a few minutes. Naruto skimmed through the pages of the book he had in his hands and searched for the correct tree. While he browsed through those countless books, the older wizard scowled and crossed his arms

'_**Naruto.**_'

'_Yeah? What's up?_'

'_**You're supposed to say dattebayo. **_**I'm**_** the one who's supposed to say fantastic. You can't switch catchphrases with me.**_'

'_It's just part of the cover. If I said that, she would have found out that it was me. Besides, you never called dibs!_'

'_**Like I need to start claiming things with you! I'm your older brother! So stop saying it!**_'

'_Make me. Because I think it's a fantastic catch-_'

Naruto should not have provoked his sibling when several seconds later, he heard the worst noise imaginable. His older brother had left his quarters and found a small chalkboard in the training room. He took it back with him to the bedroom and scratched his fingernails against the surface. In the real world, Naruto twitched and then dropped the book so that he could cover his ears. But it was useless, because the sound was all inside his head. He tried to channel it out and stop acting like a complete lunatic before someone would come around and see him. But he wasn't too fortunate when a particular silver-haired shinobi happened to be on the same level and saw the red-haired civilian with his hands stuck to his ears and stomped his foot onto the floor. The jounin soon turned toward the opposite section of the building and traveled several floors down, thinking the red-haired man was insane. He would feel safer once he was in the adult novels section and left with his intended rental. After about ten seconds of that intolerable chalkboard noise, Naruto threw in the towel and shouted to his brother through his thoughts, with his mental voice raised to its highest possible volume.

'_OK! OK! STOP IT! IT'S YOUR CATCHPHRASE! KEEP IT!_'

'_**Thank**_ **_you,_**' he smiled as he tossed the chalkboard and then he asked,'_**Was**** it that hard to give it up?**_'

'_You're such a bastard sometimes._'

'_**OI! Watch your language with me.**_'

'_I bet a thousand galleons you're gonna stop using it by the end of the month._'

'_**Should I bring back the chalkboard?**_'

'_DON'T EVEN JOKE ABOUT THAT, MATE!_'

Sakura's mother returned one more time and tapped Naruto on his shoulder while he was still furious about the chalkboard incident, "Excuse me, sir-"

"WHAT?"

Naruto covered his mouth at once when he realized he had screamed in the real world. Setsuna had returned with another stack of books that he would need in search for the wand wood. She was alarmed and frightened when the handsome man turned around and shouted at her. If it weren't for him being so attractive, she would have thrown him out in a second. But she assumed that she must have disturbed him and adopted a more apologetic look once she presumed her mistake. Naruto noticed her generous intentions and started to apologize with a quieted and smooth voice at once.

"I-I'm so sorry... I... I stubbed my toe... I didn't mean to shout…"

"Oh, it's not a problem at all," the woman breathed and laughed with an embarrassed voice, "Goodness... I'm all flustered..." she then gestured to her open shirt that exposed the top section of her almost-ample breasts.

Naruto looked her over for a moment and answered, "It would appear so…"

"You have all these books about trees…" she said slowly, "I bet this stuff is _hard_ to research..."

He nodded, not understanding the innuendo, "Yes, it is."

"Well... I bet there are other things you're interested in…" she suggested after a pause and said it with a seductive tone and tried to motion towards her chest.

The red-haired man hesitated before he opened his eyes in surprise and revulsion when she realized what she implied. But then he calmed down and answered her with an uncomfortable smile, "No."

Setsuna then frowned while she turned to leave the handsome devil to his literature. Naruto tried to keep his distance from the woman when she stopped and turned her frown back into a seductive smile, as if she assumed this eccentric man was playing Hard-To-Get. The disguised genin was surprised that she had come on to him like she did and the experience left him shaken and repulsed. He sat down in the desk provided to him and tried to hide his paled face inside the first book he could find and remained as quiet as a mouse. His companion on the other hand (while he found the woman's failed attempt to seduce Naruto to be repulsive) couldn't resist the opportunity to tease his little brother while he pretended to be the voice of one of the narrators from an old television program he remembered from his previous lifetime.

'_**This week on National Geographic; the advances of the wild cougar…**_'

'_Shut up, Harry…_'

* * *

><p>Naruto removed several of the most informative books he could find and didn't even bother reading through all of them there. He wanted to leave soon when he looked over his shoulder and could see Setsuna Haruno peaking around a pile of books and staring at him with interest. This woman was weird and wouldn't stop looking at him like her daughter would look at Sasuke. Naruto waited until the librarian was distracted with another customer and stuffed all of the books he needed into his backpack and disappeared from the section and ran down the stairs to the lower levels. Once he made it to the third floor, he found another circular desk where he could check out his books. Looking to his left, he saw a back exit with people entering and leaving with books in their arms. It would make for the perfect escape if he wanted to avoid being hunted down by Sakura's mother.<p>

He walked across the third floor and approached the closest librarian and dropped his books down on the desk.

Naruto then spoke with that same smooth voice he used on Setsuna and said, "I'd like to check these out, please. But I don't want to go to the main desk."

"Sure," answered the librarian.

The disguised genin added, "I don't have a card, though. Could I get one here, too?"

"No. You have to go to the main entrance desk for that."

Naruto said to him, "Screw it. I'll pay the normal rental price then."

"Then that will be one hundred credits, sir."

The disguised genin searched his pockets for his cash and dumped it all down on the desk and bounced on the balls of his feet while he checked over his shoulders for the woman that had stalked him. Once the clerk had separated and offered the change, Naruto took it without hesitation and took his books with him outside. Once he was out, he was surprised to find a lot of tables scattered around the outside with umbrellas shading the occupants that were silent and reading their books in peace. Naruto would have walked through the patio level without incident had he not heard a whistle from behind him.

"THERE HE IS, LADIES!"

Naruto and his invisible companion turned towards the source of the noise as both their faces turned chalk-white and could have melted in sheer horror. Setsuna had found her doctor and gathered several other librarians that looked about as old and excited as she was.

'_**LOOK OUT! It's the cougar!**_'

'_Time to_ _move! Time to move! Time to move!_'

Setsuna had spotted him and Naruto bolted as fast as he could down the street and then around the next corner. He then used his chakra to zoom close to department store and then ducked into the first alley he could find. He hid behind a dumpster and took a second to catch his breath. He could have sworn he saw the librarian and several other middle-aged women following her in search for the man that had never existed before he slumped against the wall and sighed with relief.

'_**Excellent evasive maneuvers, Little one. Success!**_'

'_I think I'm safe for now. This was a pain to hold up. Dattebayo!_'

'_**See? It sounds better when you say **_**that word**_** instead.**_'

'_Give it a rest._'

Naruto released the disguise and the red-haired man exploded into white smoke. The real blonde child that hid underneath the white smoke emerged from the cloud with his books still in his beaded backpack. Naruto decided to take several of them out and embraced his literature close to his chest and smiled. He then emerged from the alley and walked down the street to his old apartment. He smiled as he looked at the front cover of the first book he ever rented before he bumped into someone he didn't expect to run into.

"OOF!"

The small blonde shinobi fell on his bottom and dropped his books onto the ground. He looked up and was surprised to see his sensei, Kakashi, in front of him with his signature orange book tucked in his hand. The jounin looked down at his student with a curious and puzzled look hidden underneath his mask.

"Naruto," he seemed confused, "What are you doing here?"

Kakashi leaned down and helped his student back up on his feet and collected one of his books, "Sensei..."

"In need of reading material, I see?" he asked as he looked at the thickest book and opened it, "Hmm..."

The blonde-haired shinobi looked a little bit frightened when his teacher took an interest into what he had researched on and feared that Kakashi might start to ask questions, or even discover his secret plans. His fears were intensified when his sensei turned a page and looked surprised when his one exposed eye widened and he looked back down at Naruto with a surprised expression hidden under his mask.

"I can explain that," the child started as he shook his head, "You see, I was-"

But then Kakashi smiled underneath his mask and closed the book and returned it to his student, "No worries. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. In fact, I am very proud of you."

The jounin patted Naruto's shoulder and turned to leave in the opposite direction with his Make-Out Paradise book while he giggled and blushed underneath his mask. Naruto looked back at his teacher with a confused expression on his face. He looked down at his book with one of his eyebrows raised and tried to find the place where his teacher was reading from that earned him the look.

"What was he going on about?" he asked to no one.

Naruto flipped the book open to where his sensei read from and blanched when he found a recent issue of a pornographic magazine tucked in between the pages about the qualities of wood. It would seem that those few dendrologists that lived in the village seemed to share the same sick sense of humor hidden in the books that the scientists studied from. Naruto's face then turned as red as a tomato and a line of blood leaked out of his right nostril when he looked at the woman on the front cover that winked and showed off her uncensored chest. Meanwhile, he could hear his companion howling with laughter as he rolled onto the floor, side to side.

The embarrassed blonde child then shouted at his brother, "Oh, SHUT UP!"

* * *

><p>{{<em>The Boathouse at Night by James Hannigan<em>}}

On the next night that followed, Naruto had trouble with falling asleep. Ever since he had studied from those books about the trees, he had discovered that there was a small population of the trees he needed located within the vicinities of the village. But it was close to the boarder where the ANBU would be on their patrol rounds. Naruto could find the correct tree he needed in the southeastern wild woods, but he needed to be able to acquire it without attracting attention to his activities. Tomorrow he would set out into the forests and search for the appropriate tree and chop down a branch thick enough to create a wand through the transmutation formula.

He could imagine the instrument in his hand, after the transmutation constructed a flawless replica of the same wand from the mindscape, without all the gruesome hours of hard work it would take to carve it out with tools. But until he could leave tomorrow, he would have to be patient and take some time to sleep. Naruto decided to remain in the real world and read his books in peace until he felt tired. But after he had reviewed them, he couldn't relax while he looked out his window and watched the village become dark and desolate. He wanted to go out there and search the woods for the tree he needed for his wand, now that almost all the citizens were in their homes, sound asleep. He didn't care if it was late and that it could be dangerous in the woods at night. Naruto wanted to have his wand as soon as possible, as if he would be incomplete without it.

He tossed and turned in his bed until he could take it no more. Naruto threw the covers off of him and leaned over to the table next to his bed. In the mindscape, Harry looked up from his own bed and stretched out his senses when he heard Naruto moving about his old apartment. He focused his connection to him and saw the child checking their notes twice and checking the maps of the village that had been collected from the various tram stations throughout town.

'_**What are you doing? It's late, Naruto.**_'

'_I can't sleep, Nii-san. I figured we should give it a shot and search the woods while no one can follow me._'

'_**Hold on right there! You are not going out in the woods in the middle of the night.**_'

'_But Nii-san, This is one of the best times to go! There will be no one around to see me or get in the way!_'

'_**It's dangerous out in those woods! Need I remind you the last time you had a late-night adventure in the woods?**_'

'_This time is different. We're not in another nation; we're in Konoha, one of the safest places in the universe! Plus, it's hard to get lost when there's a whole city close by. It'll be like a beacon and if there's danger, I'll know where to go this time!_'

'_**Hrmm… I still don't like this. You're not going out.**_'

'_Would it make you feel better if I promised to be back in bed in one hour? With or without the wood for the wand?_'

'**…** _**It would.**_'

'_Then I promise to be back in bed and asleep at twelve o'clock._'

Harry hesitated but soon agreed to Naruto's conditions and let him out of bed. The blonde-haired child slipped into a pair of slippers and scrambled around the apartment in search for one of his maps and a duplicate of the alchemical equation to be safe. He then pocketed a handful of credits and took a few simple survival tools with him in case he would become lost in the woods. He didn't want to have to repeat the incident in the Land of Waves.

'_**Be sure to wear your bathrobe while you're out, Little one. I bet it's bloody cold out there.**_'

'_Thanks, Nii-san._'

'_**I'm not too worried though. I bet that magazine has been keeping you nice and warm, Mr. Nosebleed.**_'

'_Shut it!_'

'_**That was a lot of blood~!**_'

'_SHUT IT!_'

Naruto searched for the bathrobe that he borrowed from Iruka over two months ago and found it tucked next to the pillow on his bed. He slipped it on and wrapped the belt around his waist nice and tight. Once he checked his supplies, he carried a small flashlight and tucked in inside his robes while he made it to the front door. The blonde shinobi was quiet while he snuck out of the apartment and locked the door behind him. His landlord was loud as usual as he went on another one of his drunken ranks. Naruto soon abandoned the old apartment and took a walk down the street, towards the southeastern woods.

{{_Wandering Night by James Hannigan_}}

This part of town was quiet around this late hour, and as Naruto ventured closer to the eastern village, the distant sounds of the villagers and their late-night activities were ever more distant. Soon, the loudest sounds Naruto could hear were the crickets chirping in the grass and the buzzing noises the electric streetlamps above them made. The blonde shinobi continued to walk towards the woods while his concerned older brother searched the area and stretched out his senses for the ANBU. He checked around the bushes, trees, and even the rooftops for other forms of life and froze when he sensed someone was hidden around the corner. He looked back and tried to figure out if it was a normal villager or a shinobi. The wizard did not think much about it until he felt the person vanish with impossible speed. After a few minutes, the same person returned and had switched positions. Harry looked concerned when the presence would not leave and figured out that whoever it was, the person was following his little brother with an unknown intention. Naruto continued to walk towards the woods without a care in the world until his companion reached out and he heard his voice inside his head.

'_**Naruto, I've got something to tell you. But make sure that you keep walking and don't turn around.**_'

'_What is it, Harry?_'

'_**There is someone **__**following you. I can sense them. I thought it was just a civilian but not anymore. It's a shinobi. I can feel their chakra from here.**_'

'_Who do you think it is?_'

'_**I dunno. I couldn't recognize him from the distance. But I don't feel like finding out. Let's consider the idea that you might not be able to continue through with your mission for tonight. If this person keeps following you, then I recommend we head back home before we're too far away to call for help.**_'

'_You have got to be kidding me… I'm going to see if I can lose them._'

'_**Where will you go?**_'

'_I'll think of something. But if this person is following me to figure out what I'm doing, then I shouldn't look suspicious. I should go somewhere that seems normal. Make it look like I'm going out for something to eat. I think there's a vending machine somewhere around here or close to the outdoor mall a few blocks from around this next corner._'

'_**What kind of a person would be out shopping for a snack in the middle of the night?**_'

'_Me._'

'**…** _**I stand corrected.**_'

Naruto started walking down the street towards the park on the east side of town and made sure that he didn't look suspicious in case his stalker was still following him. He kept his hands in his pockets and turned his head upward when he noticed the streetlights hovering above him were flickering around this area of town. The blonde-haired genin smiled for one second before he looked ahead and saw the entrance to the park. He figured that he could use the darkness of the night to his advantage and turned toward the park to throw the stalker off the beaten track. Naruto started jogging through the park and stumbled upon a playground. Using the shadows of the large structures to his advantage, he aimed his fingers at the streetlights around the other side of the park and clicked his fingers before unleashing a powerful amount of magical power with his older brother's assistance.

"_Tenebrae Maxima!_" he whispered.

Naruto watched as the lights hovering above the street in front of him flickered out and then died, covering the block with a cloak of darkness to enable his escape. He ran through the rest of the park and started heading towards an underpass that turned into the vacant lot of the outdoor mall mentioned earlier. Naruto reached into his pockets and took out some cash that he had taken with him and decided to purchase a small container of Poptarts from a vending machine next to the locked doors. The price was low so he didn't waste too much when he inserted the paper bills and clicked the button. He watched as the treats were removed from the shelves and dropped down into the slot. He then stuffed the snack into his other pocket and looked over his shoulders.

'_Is he still there, Nii-san?_'

'_**I can't sense him.**_'

'_Maybe I gave him the slip._'

'_**I dunno... But I think we should quit while we're ahead. I have no idea if that person will come back or not. We can search for the tree in the morning. It will be the weekend then.**_'

'_C'mon__, Nii-san..._'

'_**Naruto, we have no idea what this person wants to do. For all we know, he could be another radical set on revenge. Let's go back home **_**right now**_** before this stranger comes back.**_'

'_If it's for the best, Nii-san..._'

'_**Wait a moment.**_'

'_What is it?_'

'_**I sensed him again!**_'

'_Where?_'

'_**He's closer this time!**_'

'Where?'

'_**Somewhere close! But I can't locate him!**_'

Naruto froze and turned around when he thought he heard the sound of someone behind him. He started to sweat and the color drained out from his face because he had no idea what this person intended. It was a shinobi, but he didn't know if this person wanted to hunt him down while he was out in the open or something much more sinister. The older wizard cursed out loud when he sensed the chakra signature vanish out of thin air before he could recognize it.

'_**Damn!**_ _**I lost him again!**_'

'_Where is he?_'

'_**I don't know! Just run!**_'

The golden-haired genin started to run as fast as he could and wouldn't stop until he reached the end of the underpass. He looked down either end of the street, unable to spot his stalker and couldn't pick up a trace that he was out there. His invisible companion stretched out his senses and soon relaxed when the shinobi disappeared, this time it would seem for good. He informed Naruto of the turn in events, to which he replied with a sigh and decided to eat his treats. Just as he reached out and ripped apart the silver paper that encased his snacks, a certain silver-haired man hovered over him from behind.

"Such a poor choice, Naruto."

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The blonde-haired child let out a terrible scream that pierced the nighttime sky and caused several people around the block to wake up and start throwing trash out their windows, thinking the noise was from a cat. In combination of his scream, Naruto soared fifteen feet into the air before he landed on his feet and started doing poses he picked up from martial arts movies he watched as a child. Kakashi Hatake looked down at his student with a mixture of surprise and amusement hidden underneath his mask before the child relaxed to a level where he could breath and looked up at his teacher with a cross expression. He then punched his teacher in the chest when he felt embarrassed about the feminine scream earlier, even though the blow did not even seem to faze the older man, like he never even felt it.

"Kakashi-sensei! You-complete-arse! You scared me! What were you doing following me around like that? I thought you were going to kill me!"

"I'm sorry," he apologized, "I was just going on a little late-night patrol. The Hokage wanted me to track down this local sex-criminal and I noticed you heading towards the mall. I was a little worried, so I followed you to make sure you weren't attacked if the criminal showed up. What are you doing up so late at night?"

"I was..." then he noticed that he had dropped his snacks and stepped on them, "Oh… I was going out for a midnight snack."

Kakashi felt a little bad about ruining his student's treat. He had been keeping a close watch over Naruto this last week as he was ordered to and made sure to give him his space, but this night he had been taken it a bit too far and almost frightened his own student to death and then lied to his face. Kakashi decided to make up for his mistake and reached into his weapons pouch for a snack he brought with him on missions. He produced two fresh bananas from the super-market he bought earlier this morning, which caused both the wizards in front of him to look surprised when the man offered one of them to his student.

"Here," he offered, "You can have one of these instead. These are much healthier. Loads of potassium."

Naruto took one of the bananas and looked at it with a perplexed expression. He looked back up at his teacher, who started to remove the peel of his own banana. Naruto thought for one second that his teacher was going to remove his mask and reveal his face so that he could eat. He wanted to be the first of their team to see Kakashi's actual face and continued the conversation with another question.

"Do you carry bananas wherever you go, sensei?" he asked.

"I like bananas," he smiled and then the cloth of his mask separated at his lips and let him pop a bite of his delicious fruit into his mouth without revealing his face to his student and then smiled down at him, "Bananas are good!"

Naruto's eyes turned white and round as saucers before he relaxed and frowned at his failure to see his teacher's face and he thanked him for the free food, "Thanks for the loads of po-tas-eeum, sensei."

Kakashi soon let his student go back home and advised him to lock his doors and windows to avoid trouble. The jounin then stood there and watched as his little student hurried home and couldn't help but think back to when the child started striking those foolish and amateur martial arts moves. He couldn't help but feel amused when he played the scene over and over again in his head and pealed the rest of his banana. Kakashi started walking back to his own apartment and reminisced as he munched down on the one sweet food in the world that he could stand to eat.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Dorky Taijutsu Master..." he smiled and popped another bite into his mouth, "I can see it in movie theaters now..."

* * *

><p>Later on that weekend, Naruto was sitting in his bedroom desk while he double-checked his books and maps. He had to make sure that he was searching the correct area in the forest for the tree-wood he needed. He circled the areas he had to make sure to check with a red marker on his disposable map. After he had marked the locations, he looked over to the alarm clock and then packed his supplies and a sharp kunai into his weapons pouch. Naruto collected his weapons pouch and escaped the apartment through the balcony when he heard his landlord's shout out his name. He dove down to the street and looked over to one of the local clocks to double-check the time.<p>

'_Oh shoot! The clock in my room was wrong! I'm late! The ANBU will be making their rounds in an hour!_'

'_**Relax, Little one. Those ANBU won't stick around the same area the whole time.**_'

'_I'm not taking any chances! I have to get this done now! I can't wait anymore!_'

The blonde shinobi darted towards the eastern woods but had to run through the market district in order catch up with the time. He would have moved around the town to avoid suspicion but it was too late and he had to cross through town. Naruto hopped across the rooftops and used his chakra to move faster and to propel across distances he never would have thought he could before Kakashi taught him how to control his chakra better. It almost felt like he could soar into the skies when he made those incredible jumps across the various buildings. But soon he had to lower his altitude and hop down into the streets so that he knew where he was. Naruto ran through and avoided crashing into the crowds and storms of other people and civilians. Most of the citizens jumped or gasped when Naruto dodged, spun around, or slid underneath them. He could hear his older brother attempt to protest against his actions, but each time he stopped and waited for the inevitable crash that was soon to come.

{{_Mr. Longbottom Flies by John Williams_}}

Naruto managed to run through two streets without crashing until he bumped into one or two people.

"Look out! Ahh! Mistake! Watch out! Oh! I'm sorry! Watch out!" he shouted.

At the end of the road next to a cart filled with books that were on sale, the members of Team 8 and their attractive kunoichi sensei were exiting a small local bookstore next to a cart after a mission. Their client handed the credits to the team leader, Kurenai Yuhi, and she bowed to the old man that had hired her and her students to help him restock his shelves and re-organize the various amounts of literature. Hinata looked up to her mentor and smiled back at the client while her teammate Shino Aburame remained quiet and the other teammate, Kiba Inuzuka, scoffed and said something harsh under his breath about their client.

"Thanks, Yuhi-sama," the client thanked, "I will let all of your students be sure to leave with one free book each from the cart in addition to your efforts."

Hinata said in a stutter, "T-that sounds nice. Thank you…"

"Like I want to read some stupid book," mumbled Kiba, "There's nothing in that shop about firearms or war… It's lame…"

Shino commented, "Isn't that Naruto Uzumaki over there?"

Kiba and Hinata turned their heads towards the street and saw a familiar orange and blue blur stampede towards them. The shorthaired kunoichi blushed when she saw him while Kiba clenched his teeth and almost smirked when he itched his foot out to trip his old classmate and favorite victim. Naruto stormed through another crowd of people but one of the villagers recognized him and tried to trip him on purpose before Kiba had a chance.

"Take this!"

The blonde shinobi managed to hop above the foot and did not fall. But it was that sudden dodge that caused him to lose his balance while he zoomed and he crashed into an unexpecting Kiba and Shino. The three preteens slammed into each other, but it was the male members of Team 8 that were the ones that crashed into the book cart with Shino at the bottom. A large series of hardback books collapsed onto Kiba, which caused his head to swell with a mixture of sudden impact and frustration. He seethed while his teammate was buried underneath a series of self-help novels with a small encyclopedia was stuffed into his mouth. When the collapse happened, a series of voices echoed out and caused the people around the street to turn their heads in shock. The first sounds were from Naruto, then Kiba, Shino, and it all ended with Harry once all of them had collapsed.

"WHOA!"

"OWW!"

"ACK!"

'_**TOUCHDOWN!**_'

Kurenai raised her brow and Hinata gasped in surprise. She tried to speak up and ask her teammates if they were all right, but Naruto's presence caused her voice to disappear. Kiba tried to throw one of the books at Naruto and it was more than enough to scare him off.

The blonde shinobi looked to his former female classmate and apologized to her, "Sorry about that!"

"You stupid bitch!" Kiba shouted at the blonde shinobi when he tossed another book at him, "Watch where you're running!"

Kurenai commented, "For some reason, this has _Kakashi_ written all over it…"

"Shino-kun," after the blonde had disappeared around the corner, Hinata reached down and helped her unfortunate teammate out of the pile of literature, "Are y-you okay?"

The Aburame heir removed the book from his mouth and trembled as he spoke with a murmured voice, "Once I become supreme insect ruler of the universe, that blonde moron shall tremble before the awesome power..."

Shino paused his demonic monologue as he removed a special white book from his thick black hair. He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow at the attractive title, _Miso Soup for the Teenage Soul_. Shino then opened the book to the introduction and started reading the first chapter while he stood up. He refused to avert his gaze as his female teammate concerned over the swell mark on his head while his other teammate tried to attack Naruto, but their sensei held him back with a simple genjutsu that froze him to the spot and made him believe he chased after him.

Shino turned the next page and said, "Hmm... Neat book..."

* * *

><p>{{<em>Owl PostFloo Powder by John Williams_}}

Elsewhere in the village, Iruka Umino had arrived at the Mission Assignment Desk almost one hour before the incident at the bookstore in the market district. He had returned from his mission the previous night and had arrived at the desk to go back to work. He saw the old man in his seat, sorting out missions and assignments to the individual teams. He soon sat back down in his own seat and the Hokage greeted him in welcome.

"Iruka… You're home!"

The chunin smiled as he sat down, "Hokage-sama, it's good to be back… Is there any news concerning Team 7 on the Tazuna mission?"

"Haven't you heard?" asked the old man.

Iruka asked him back in subtle alarm, "What?"

"The mission was a success," said the old man, "The team returned home last week. All of them safe and sound."

The tan-skinned chunin sighed with a satisfied smile, "That's incredible… No, that's wonderful…"

"Tazuna has sent us a message that the bridge was completed and that our village will be the first trading site now that the exports at the Land of Waves are not restricted to the sea," the old man informed, "I also heard rumors that Naruto and the others helped to take down Gatō and the infamous terrorist, Zabuza Momochi…"

Iruka then said with enthusiasm, "That's unbelievable… I have to ask Naruto about the mission as soon as possible."

The old man smiled at the chunin but soon frowned when he thought about what he could learn if he knew the worst details about that mission. The Hokage wanted to give Iruka some time off from work and give him a break after the mission he had sent him on, but was worried of the tiniest chance that the chunin would not take the news of the mission so well. The old man looked back down at the schedule while he mused over the situation from Naruto's point of view and assumed that he would not bring up the incident that involved the demon, should he let Iruka have the week off to reunite and spend some time with his adopted little brother. Sarutobi was comforted when he remembered that he knew the chunin all too well, and he knew that Iruka wouldn't mind the information concerning the possession if Naruto was back to normal now and didn't sprout nine tails from his rear. The old man knew that the warm-hearted chunin would still care for Naruto no matter what. He thought it over a thousand times in his head over the course of the next several minutes while Iruka smiled and sorted out missions and distributed them out to the teams. In the end, Sarutobi knew the two of them would be fine, even with this unfortunate news.

The old man could sense that the chunin did not want to be here at work and wanted to be out to see Naruto. Soon, Sarutobi smiled at the tan-skinned chunin and made his move to almost kick out one of his most beloved soldiers.

"Wait a minute," the Hokage took a second to check the schedule in an attempt to give the chunin a break, "Iruka it says here that you're not due to work until next week."

Iruka raised one of his eyebrows, "It does? But it doesn't-"

"I figure a man like you could make much better use of his time having a fresh bowl of ramen with his otōto," he interrupted as the caramel-skinned man noticed the obvious lie, "You are dismissed for this afternoon, Iruka-kun."

The chunin stood up at once and nodded his head to the old man in respect, "Thanks, sir."

* * *

><p>It was a matter of time later when Iruka Umino was walking down the street, enclosing on Ichiraku Ramen. He took the time on his walk to mull over what events were soon to come as the summer continued and the sun blazed against the skin on his neck. The next school semester was approaching and he had been anxious about the new position that was open. No one had been chosen to be the new head instructor ever since Mizuki had been sacked and then executed. Iruka had been hoping to fill the position, since he was voted the best and most popular teacher last semester. He had prepared a résumé for the promotion ever since the beginning of the summer and was almost finished with it. It was still a lot of hard work, but he was sure that he would get the job once he was done. Once he was the head instructor, he would have a better imbursement and he would have more time to spend with his little Naruto.<p>

Speaking of his otōto, he hadn't seen him in almost a month and had worried about him all the while. Iruka wanted to know everything that had happened on his mission after he heard some of the rumors buzzing around the village; he listened to more of them even while he walked down the street. The shinobi around town whispered that Naruto had taken down Zabuza Momochi, although most people (the ones that disdained the blonde child) dismissed them and said that it was Kakashi or Sasuke. But the chunin was above rumors and was one to know the facts first. Iruka also wanted to talk to Naruto about what he wanted to tell him before he left. The child seemed nervous about what he was about to tell him and Iruka wanted to know what it was that made him so.

"Hmm…" he mused.

Iruka soon looked up from his feet towards Ichiraku Ramen and smiled when he spotted a wonderful and familiar mop of blonde hair at the end of the street. He marched forth and expected Naruto to jump in the air in surprise and shout out his name before he would run at him with top speeds. But the blonde preteen had not seen him and looked towards the forest with a determined look plastered onto his otherwise soft and almost-roundish face. Naruto checked over his shoulders for another attack from Kiba and then looked from side-to-side to make sure that no one was watching him. But he had missed Iruka down the street, when he blended into the crowd. The child then reached into his pouch and checked the map one more time before stuffing it into one of his pockets and marched into the woods.

Iruka frowned at the child and mused, '_What's going on here? Where's Naruto going?_'

Something didn't seem right about this picture. So the chunin followed the blonde child into the woods but made sure to keep his distance in case he was about to train and throw kunai at random targets scattered around the area. He had once mentored Naruto a little over the summer and the child had developed a habit of running through the trees and throwing weapons out at random targets.

* * *

><p>{{<em>Meeting Tom Riddle by John Williams<em>}}

Naruto ventured deep into the forest until the sounds of the metropolis behind him were muted through the trees. He made a turn and ventured towards the southern boarder while his invisible companion checked the maps and searched for the trees the two of them had been hunting for a little over two weeks. Naruto brushed the backs of his fingers against the smooth surfaces of the normal trees he passed while he looked for the ones he needed. After some time walking through the woods, Naruto took another turn and stopped in his tracks when he came upon a new environment once he took in the surroundings. He then froze at the sight of a tree in front of him that had wild vines spread up and around its trunk.

The blonde shinobi ran up to it and examined the material after he checked one of his papers and made the match. He placed his hand through the leaves that enveloped the truck and examined the base of the wood to feel an unnatural smooth but uneven surface. Naruto smiled and almost chuckled when he felt an unusual attachment towards the material.

"This tree looks about right," he said out loud, "I think we have it!"

'_**I dunno... It doesn't look right enough for your wand... Try looking for a paler variety...**_'

"But this is the first tree that we've found! Isn't it good enough?"

'_**Naruto****, we need the **_**perfect wood**_** from the **_**perfect tree**_** for the ritual to be a success. I do not sense the correct qualities within this tree. It's close, but you'll have to find another one...**_'

"So my princess is in another castle, eh?"

'_**Sure. Whatever the hell that means. Now let's search for another tree.**_'

Naruto sighed and turned towards the other trees and checked them all to see which one would meet the requirements. Iruka continued to trail his otōto and looked perplexed when he thought he heard the child speak out as if he had a one-sided conversation with someone. The chunin looked around the tree after he had heard him talk, but no one else was there while Naruto touched the base of a tree. The behavior was odd, even for a child like Naruto and it caused the chunin to feel more concerned for his brother as he turned south and ventured into deeper sections of the forests and closer to the edge where the ANBU did their rounds. The silent chase went on for a while until Naruto smiled at one tree that was close to the massive stone wall that protected the village. The small blonde genin took a kunai and carved out a wood chip. He then took the weapon and engraved a bold and unusual pattern into the trunk; it appeared to be a triangular rune with a circle and a vertical line drawn into the middle of it. As soon as he was finished, Naruto turned towards the west and darted into another section of the forest for some time. Iruka still followed him for several more minutes, his heart now pained with concern for his old student and what in the world he was doing.

The chunin almost lost him when the boy ducked under a normal tree and he was forced to use his chakra to increase his speed and catch up to the child. When he reached an unnoticed meadow in the woods, he saw Naruto stand next to an unusual cluster of smooth and flat rocks covered with branches and leaves. The blonde preteen removed one of the stones and inspected the earth underneath it. Iruka looked over the entire area and realized that the stones formed a flawless circular pattern that almost resembled a summoning circle, but it almost seemed like a natural but random occurrence, when the influence of the charms around it kicked in. He looked over to Naruto and watched as the child replaced the stone and sat down onto a seat of grass. The genin then placed his hands inside the circle and talked to the invisible man.

"Nii-san," he said out loud, "I think I'm ready to test it."

Iruka stared at his otōto and tried to determine whatever sense he could make out of his abnormal behavior. When he tried to make some sense out of his reasons to talk to some invisible person, the tan-skinned chunin came to a conclusion based around Naruto's known past and then froze where he stood there in the woods. Iruka didn't want to believe that Naruto had spoken to the demon sealed inside him, but he could not come up with another explanation while his face almost started to drain of its natural caramel color. He shook his head and tried to shake out his negative thoughts and tried to create a more rational conclusion.

'_No, please, no..._' he begged over and over again and then he reasoned, '_It must be an emotional vent, or some imaginary friend he has. But Naruto's too old for that childish stuff._'

The chunin took an unconscious step backward and froze again when he snapped a twig underneath his foot. His smaller brother's head shot up before he even made the noise and he turned to see his old sensei in time to see him make that unconscious step backwards. Naruto looked surprised to see him and his face drained when he feared that his older brother heard him talk to his unseen companion out loud. Naruto stood up at once and tried to remain calm as he tried to think up an excuse for his outburst and his ominous actions, but was unable to think straight.

"Iruka-aniki?"

He then noticed that the chunin had made the noise when he had taken that one unconscious step backwards and Naruto remained as still as a statue.

Tears welled in the child's sapphire-blue eyes while he stared up at his older sibling and identified the look of concern and fear laced in his chocolate-brown irises. He then assumed the worst possible conclusion of his own and an internal argument ensued within him and his companion while Iruka saw the pain and tears on Naruto's face and looked more concerned. He took several steps forward, thinking that he hadn't heard what he thought he heard and that his little brother had talked to himself to think out loud or something like that, ignoring the last sentence he said and mentioned another older brother. Iruka himself did that from time to time whenever he needed to think hard. There had to be a more reasonable explanation for all this abnormal behavior.

"Naruto?" he reached a warm and welcomed hand out and asked to make sure it was still him in there.

The small blonde child nodded his head; his tears still welling up but did not fall. His cheeks started to grow more and more pink as he tried to resist from breaking down and assumed that the chunin knew about what had happened on the mission when it came down to the possession.

"You h-heard about w-what happened in the Land of Waves, didn't you...?"

Iruka now had no idea what on earth his blonde-haired brother was talking about and looked more confused.

Naruto then reached out to him and said, "It was an accident! I-It wasn't my fault! You have to believe me, Iruka-aniki... Please..."

The tan-skinned man frowned with another confused expression on his face. He still had no idea what Naruto was even talking about, but whatever it was it must have had something to do with the mission. At seeing the frown upon his former teacher's face, but not understanding that he didn't know what had happened, Naruto turned away from him. The child then let his tears fall down his face and he took off into the forest with a boost of chakra to increase his speed. Iruka was frozen where he stood, unable to comprehend what had happened before he took off after him at his own full speed, turning into a dark blur in the process.

"Naruto! Wait!" he shouted as he held out his hand.

Iruka pursued after his child and watched him leap over tall bushes and twisted in between tight trees each time he started tree hopping. By the looks of it, Naruto must have learned how to use his chakra to increase his speed, because Iruka was almost unable to catch up with him. The chunin dashed as fast as he could but no matter how fast he ran he couldn't keep up with the small and agile child.

"NARUTO! STOP!" he shouted but the boy ignored him.

As the two shinobi sped through the trees, leapt off of the ground, and then back into the trees again, the two of them failed to see Kakashi's shocked expression as the two of them pelted past him. Kakashi was just reading the end of his volume of his adult novel until he sensed a presence approach and saw his tracksuit-clad student zoom right in front of him followed by Iruka Umino in hot pursuit. The masked man frowned behind his mask and took off after them both, but he was careful with concealing his chakra signature. He sensed that whatever had happened between the two of them, it was much more serious than a prank or a trick. As he followed them, Kakashi made sure not to let them know he was behind them and was determined to get to the bottom of this before he intervened in the conflict.

Iruka ran as fast as he could, subtlety marveling at how fast Naruto had developed in such a short amount of time since he graduated. But soon he snapped into it, and evaluated the distance between him and Naruto once the two of them reached the ground again. He used a good boost of chakra into his feet and then lunged after him with his arms stretched out in front of him. He managed to grab the back of the child's tracksuit and then pulled him into his arms, curling his body around the blonde genin so that he was protected when the two of them slammed into the earth. Iruka grunted as his side hit the floor of the forest but he didn't relinquish his hold on the struggling child. He didn't notice when Kakashi stopped inside the tree line of the meadow the pair had landed in and readied a kunai to defend his student. Iruka sat up and held Naruto as gently as he could, considering the fact that the child was still trying to get him to let go.

"Naruto, stop! Please stop… It's ok… Please calm down... I want to help you..." he hugged Naruto as tight as he could and was relieved to feel him begin to relax in his arms.

"Shhh… It's all right… I've got you… It's ok…" he soothed him as best he could.

Back in the tree line, Kakashi slowly put his weapon back inside his pouch when he realized that Iruka had been chasing Naruto in order to comfort him for whatever reason. He still kept his presence hidden as he let Iruka do what he had to do. The chunin held his adopted little brother as the blonde child started to blubber and sob for the first time in front of someone other than Harry. Iruka held the child's head against his warm chest and continued to hush him down. He soon smiled as the child started to calm down somewhat and raised his head to face him. Iruka had no idea what was going on with the child, but he knew that he would do anything to help him.

"What happened, Naruto?" he asked, "Why did you think I knew about what happened on your mission? I was looking for you because I was going to invite you to ramen so you could tell me about it. What's wrong?"

The boy shook his head, "You… You'll hate me if I tell…"

Iruka pulled Naruto closer to him and held him dearly as Kakashi looked on and felt a pang of woe at the quiet statement made. He didn't know Iruka Umino as much as the Hokage did, so he supposed there was a slim chance that the statement that was uttered could turn out true.

"Naruto…" he sighed in a sad voice, "If something bad happened on the mission, you can tell me."

He still refused, "No… I can't… I don't wanna lose you…"

"You won't," the chunin insisted.

Naruto responded with, "D-don't make promises you can't keep, Iruka-aniki!

"Oh…" he thought for a minute and then offered calmly, "Would it be easier if I asked the Hokage or Kakashi-sensei?"

"No," he shouted and started shaking his head in an almost violent manner, "No!"

Without a chance to realize what had happened to him on the inside, Iruka felt Naruto freeze in his arms for a split second before the child's his head slumped and he turned limp and motionless. The chunin that held him twitched at the sudden movement and shook the child to get him to move. But the blonde child did not respond and he started shaking him a little bit more and patted his back out of a sudden panic.

"Naruto? Naruto! What's wrong? Naruto, wake up! Naruto!"

Iruka shouted in panic as his little brother remained unresponsive and his eyes turned a dull shade of blue, as if he were dead. Kakashi stepped out of the bushes in a rush, creating an audible rustle and snapped dozens of twigs under his feet. The masked man froze when the hairs on the back Iruka's neck were raised and he dodged a kunai that the chunin had thrown at him out of instinct. When the jounin recovered, Iruka adopted an apologetic look as Kakashi gave him a slight nod, understanding that he was acting upon instinct to protect the incapacitated blonde child. But then Iruka looked in between Kakashi and the student before he glared at the older instructor as if he were to blame for the Naruto's unusual and frightening behavior.

"_What the hell has happened to him, Hatake?_" he asked with a demanding tone.

Kakashi faltered in both his words and his posture when Iruka glared at him with his chocolate-brown irises full of daggers and fire. It was surprising, as he never imagined a man like Iruka Umino, who was below him both in rank and in age, could be capable of intimidating him. The masked shinobi cleared his throat before he tried his best to explain what had happened to cause this unusual and irrational behavior in his student and to calm down the chunin before he would attack him.

"Well… the mission took a bad turn near the end, that much you know for sure. You see… he _thought_ that Sasuke was killed by an enemy kunoichi… When he thought that he was dead, Naruto was lost in an emotional fit which caused him to-"

Before the silver-haired man could speak another word and reveal the incident about the demon, the blonde-haired child blinked and his face was filled with life again. Iruka looked down at the child and sighed when his eyes returned to their normal color and shine.

"Naruto…"

The blonde genin looked up and saw his current sensei standing there next to the chunin with an almost worried look hidden under his mask.

"K-Kakashi-sensei," stuttered the child, "What are you doing here?"

The older shinobi smiled down at his student and explained with a more serious voice near the end, "I saw you two running through the woods and thought I should tag along in case something was wrong. I take it that this has something to do with what happened in the Land of Waves?"

Naruto looked down at his lap in shame.

The teacher then offered with a calm and kind voice, "If you want, I can tell Iruka what happened and explain it all to him... But I think maybe you two should talk this one through... It's your choice, Naruto..."

The blonde-haired genin hesitated, silently appreciating his sensei's kindness before he made his decision.

"Kakashi-sensei…" he asked.

The jounin tilted his head like a curious child, "Hmm?"

"Could… could you please leave us alone for a few minutes, please?" he asked calmly.

The masked man asked him one last time, "Are you sure?"

Naruto nodded, his face still stained with old and fresh tears. Kakashi soon stood up with a slight grunt and a sigh. He stretched out his arms and then placed his hands back inside his pockets and nodded.

"Ok… I'll be within shouting distance if you need me."

With that said, he vanished out of thin air and appeared far enough to leave to two other shinobi alone. Naruto slowly removed himself from Iruka's strong arms and sat down in the grass in front of him, letting his golden-blonde hair hide his face. The chunin sat down there; his eyebrows turned upward a little as he reached out to one of the most precious people he had left in his life.

"Naruto… Please… Talk to me here. Tell me what's the matter," he silently begged, "Whatever happened on the mission, whatever it is, you can tell me…"

The child was honestly starting to scare Iruka, because this was not the same Naruto that he knew. This was supposed to be the happy-go-lucky boy that screamed out his name and begged for ramen after a bunch of boring missions. The Naruto he knew and loved almost never cried or was ever as troubled or scared as he was right now. Eventually, the blonde preteen started shaking his head as more tears began to leak down his face and splatter onto his lap like rain.

"No… It's more than that…" he said with the saddest and most remorseful voice the chunin had ever heard, "In fact, it's something else, Iruka-aniki… I… I've lied to you… I've lied to you for such a long time, and I feel so ashamed of it… I'm so sorry…"

"Lied?" the chunin questioned as dread started to settle in his heart, "What about?"

Naruto looked at him right in the face and insisted with a serious but softened look, the likes of which he had never seen before, "I didn't lie about what you mean to me! I would never lie about that, aniki! Honest! It's about what I wanted to talk about before I left for the Land of Waves... I have to tell someone the truth..."

The chunin looked a little more relieved and then started, "Naruto… what is it?"

"I need you to trust me, aniki…" the child asked him with a soft and honest voice, "Please…?"

With a voice like that being spoken to him, Iruka's heart and soul kept on telling him that this was his little brother asking, or rather, begging for him to trust him. But his brain was telling him that he shouldn't and that it could lead to something bad. The chunin was at war against himself in his head while he looked down at Naruto and the blonde child looked up at him with those wonderful blue sapphires.

Naruto asked him one last time, "Please... I need to tell the truth... Please..."

Soon after that, Iruka's heart fought against his brain and won his judgment. He looked into the child's face and saw the fear laced inside it as well as the same warm look he saw whenever the child smiled without stretching or straining his face to do so. Iruka then nodded and he said with a smooth voice that assured the blonde-haired preteen.

"I trust you, Naruto."

The small child smiled another one of his real smiles, as Iruka seemed to freeze where he sat on the earth. He remained still as Naruto moved so that he was kneeling in front of him and gently placed his small hands on his face. Pure sapphires became locked with chocolate-brown orbs and then the whole world around them turned dark and then pitch-black as silence fell once more.

* * *

><p>To Be Continued...<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Here we are! We now delve into how Iruka was made aware of the magical world! In the next chapter, Iruka will dive deep into Naruto's past and learn more about him than he did before.<strong>

**AZ44: Dude. I can't wait for the next chapter!**

**K: Me too! Which is why I've decided to post the next chapter as soon as possible. It's finished, I'm just waiting for the right time to post it.**

**AZ44: But seriously, this was very well-written. Not to mention, it was also a little suspenseful at times. I also loved all the Doctor Who references I picked up here and there. Those made me laugh more than once!**

**K: Well, you did ask me to do it... multiple times.**

**AZ44: Heh! Still, it turned out well! Fantastic sounds like a catchphrase Harry would and could use that doesn't sound too forced. Plus, ****I bet most people didn't understand the concept of Naruto's henge design!**

**K: That reminds me! For the record, Naruto's physical disguise when he waltzed into the library to retrieve those books was based on Doctor Who's the Tenth Doctor. But his clothes were based on the Doctor's outfit worn at the beginning of The Christmas Invasion, which were worn by the previous Ninth Doctor.**

**AZ44: (smiles) And that's how Naruto was chased by a cougar.**

**K: (laughs) That had me in stitches! And I wrote it!**

**AZ44: (calms down) Well, we should chill out now. How about we post the next chapter tomorrow? We shouldn't leave the readers and our friends to wait on us for weeks.**

**K: You don't want to torture them with waiting? That doesn't sound like you at all. You're not an impostor, are you?**

**AZ44: No. What? I can't be a little bit human once in a while?**

**K: For as long as I've known you? Never in a million eons.**

**AZ44: Let's finish this man. The next chapter is gonna be sweet!**

**K: Alright then. Until the next chapter, ladies and gentleman, remember to review and keep reading! The newest chapter will be up soon!**

* * *

><p><strong>The song Naruto sang in the forest was the first several lyrics to the song called Tha Mo Ghaol Air Àird A' Chuan by Julie Fowlis<strong>

**Here's the translation in English: *On a quiet evening at the beginning of May, When the bat was in the skies, I heard a tearful young maiden, Singing beneath the shadow of the green branches***


	17. A Greater Understanding

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura/extreme shout

'_Blah_': Naruto's thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

* * *

><p><strong>Hello and welcome back to the second part of the Book 2 Finale! You're in for a treat here, folks! This chapter took me a LONG-ASS-TIME to finish and I put a whole lot of effort and time into it to make it fit just right. It's the reason this book took such a while to finish, I had to make sure it was perfect, and I think I might have done it. This chapter was actually so good, that it made Azeroth44 tear up. I am not kidding.<strong>

**AZ44: YOU BASTARD! You said you wouldn't tell!**

**K: Heh! I lied.**

**AZ44: That's it! You're dead-meat this time! No more tame-behavior! DEATHWING, CTHULHU! RISE!**

**K: Nice speech and all, but I don't hear them com-**

**(Suddenly hears a low rumbling out in the distance)**

**K: Oh, you have got to be kidding...**

**(Runs outside with Naruto and both see the dark shadows of the evil beings rise out from the mountains on the horizon)**

**Naruto: You can handle this one, Superman! Laters!**

**(Runs out and enters the fanfic universe somehow)**

**K: DUDE! COME ON!**

**Naruto: Sorry! Can't hear you! I have a chapter to star in!**

**K: You're not getting sweets next time! ****(Deathwing and Cthulhu release their individual and terrifying roars while the lone writer stares with a blank face and cracks his knuckles and neck while he withdraws a Mark 6 sonic screwdriver) ****Well, please have fun and remember to review!**

* * *

><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the Property of Masashi Kishimoto**

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling, **

* * *

><p>Chapter 17: A Greater Understanding<p>

* * *

><p>{{<em>Snape's Demise by Alexandre Desplat<em>}}

Pain. He felt pain course and surge through his veins and muscles. His toes twitched once or twice, while a bead or two of sweat ran down his face. Darkness surrounded the man from the real world while he remained suspended in space until he felt his back press against the surface of unknown flat structure. His headband slipped from his forehead, but he lacked the strength and the desire to reach out and save it.

Iruka Umino soon felt as if he had been beaten and bruised up from the worst fight in his life. He felt a lot like how he felt back when he fought against a former genin named Kō when the two of them were competing against each other in the Chunin Selection Exams almost eight years ago. He used his other senses apart from sight to take in his environment and it felt like he was lying down on a comfortable bed. He listened and could have sworn that he heard soothing music echo out in the distance. Iruka stirred and groaned slightly as he tried to vent the pain out of his system. His movements and sounds earned the attention of the two people that were in the room with him. He heard the sound of small set of rushing footsteps before he heard the sounds of a heavier set of footsteps follow. Iruka then felt the left side of the bed move before it settled and he heard a loud voice boom from the source of the lightest footsteps.

"He made a sound," the chunin flinched at the volume of a familiar voice, "Is he waking up?"

"Hush, Naruto…" the chunin flinched again; this time he did not recognize the second voice he heard, "He's bound to have a big headache when he wakes up and you screaming like that isn't going to help him feel better."

"Sorry, Nii-san."

He heard the child apologize in a rather soft voice, more soft than he had heard since he first met him. Iruka wanted to smile at the fact that Naruto had been quieted down and showed such obedience, but he had to figure out where he was and how he had gotten there. To him, it didn't feel like the hospital, and he couldn't remember going on a mission that could have ended with him being put to rest on a bed. Iruka tried to sit up, but he grunted and stopped when the soft touch of a warm hand pressed against his exposed forehead.

He then heard the unknown man speak to him with a soft but alien voice, "Please, take it easy, Umino-san. Just relax and the pain will soon pass. Trust me, I'm a doctor… in a sense."

The tan-skinned man slowly opened his eyes; his vision was blurred for a few seconds before he saw the bed he was resting on, realizing how enormous it was. He then looked up and noticed a worried Naruto was leaning over him. Iruka tried to manage a small smile, receiving a blinding one in return. He looked the child over when he noticed something different about him. He seemed to be wearing a normal set of civilian clothes instead of his ridiculous tracksuit. Iruka looked to the side and noticed a handsome man seated on a chair beside the bed; he seemed about the same age as him, but he had dark-brown hair, piercing emerald-green eyes, wore round and thin-rimmed glasses, and had a simple apparel that consisted of a light-blue t-shirt, dark pants, and a set of black robes that looked like normal wear.

Iruka started observing his surroundings, taking in the multicolored tapestries, paintings, furniture, and rich carpeting. The chunin felt slightly alarmed, because he had no clue where on earth he was. He looked back to the man with the glasses and noticed that he hadn't removed his gaze upon him. It was like he was expecting something out of Iruka, waiting for him to speak, make a sudden move, or even attack.

The man still kept his vision fixed on him even when he ordered, "Naruto. I want you go to the library and brush up on your DADA studies."

"But-" the child tried to protest.

But the man with the glasses insisted with the same accent as the child, "Little one, please. The two of us need to talk alone. If you leave, then I'll let you use the orchestra and play as loud as you want, but only if you go right now."

The blonde child crossed his arms and pouted, "Fine."

Before he departed to another room inside the infinite mindscape, he gave Iruka a nice hug and then tried to pounce on the man with the glasses, who laughed and told him to get going before he gave him a friendly swat at his blonde hair. Iruka watched the child duck in time and run out of the room through a large wooden door opposite another door that appeared to lead out to infinite darkness. The chunin then turned his attention to the stranger that wore the glasses and noticed that the man now smiled at him.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Iruka Umino. My name is Harry Potter..."

Iruka asked him after a pause, "Where... where am I?"

"Well... it's complicated..." he sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair and said, "Ooh, why did I even agree to this?"

The chunin watched the other man when he threw his arms up into the air and gave up with trying to be more indirect with what he was about to reveal, and decided to be simple and to-the-point, as insane as it would sound to someone from the outside world.

"Ok... How do I put this, Umino-san?" he then spread out his arms in presentation and told the chunin with a humorous voice, "Uh... welcome to Naruto's mind!"

Iruka stared at him with a blank face before what had been told to him had sunk in, "**WHAT?**"

The wizard winced at the volume and then flinched when Iruka started scrambling to get away from him. He knew what the chunin was thinking, just as he had predicted so long ago when Naruto first wished to tell him the truth. Harry stood up from his chair and walked towards the bed, he reached out and grabbed the man by the collar of his uniform and the collar of his flak jacket in a very aggressive manner. He pulled him in close to his face and had the older man look into his incredible eyes and convince him to believe him.

"Listen up..." he growled through his teeth, "Let's get one thing straight here, before you go on and make a mistake... I-am-not-the-Nine-Tailed-Fox."

The tan chunin looked surprised and stopped his subtle resistance and looked deep into those incredible green eyes. He couldn't recall another man or woman from the village that had eyes of such a rare color. He looked into them and remained frozen while he read the man's emotions and tried to find a trace in his expression that reminded him of the night of the attack. But what he found in them was something that seemed old and alien, instead of something ancient and evil. He cut his breath short and let a droplet of sweat run down his temple before the wizard moved his face back a few inches.

"If you want me to prove it, then I can take you to its cage. I've kept the beast locked up in its chamber and I placed more defenses around it just to make sure."

Iruka still looked deep into the strange man's eyes. Those twin emeralds meeting his chocolate-brown orbs. Something inside of those perfect emeralds brought upon him a wave of untold calm that forced him to stop struggling as Harry's grip around his collar was lifted. The cloaked man took a step back from the shinobi and he offered his hand. The chunin cautiously took it and let Harry pull him off the bed. The wizard then noticed the sheer size of the man that he drew into his realm. Iruka was at least a head taller than he was and was much more broad-shouldered than he was. He also had more muscles than the sorcerer, which almost made him a little bit envious of the chunin, but he soon shook the thought aside.

Harry then flicked his wrist and a thin piece of wood slipped out from his sleeve. He took the wooden stick and flicked it at the door to darkness. Iruka watched with wide eyes as the infinite darkness parted at the gesture, turning into a pitch-black veil made of an unearthly cloth. Once it parted, Harry still held strong to Iruka's hand and led him into a corridor lit with new stone torches with large H's emblazoned onto them. The corridor looked so clean and so rich, that it almost looked like the two men were walking through a castle. But then the corridor slowly turned dark, chilling, and repulsive as the two continued down. Iruka stared in shock as the corridor's stone torches, carpeting, and tapestries melted before him and turned into a sewer. He felt chills run down his spine when he and the stranger stopped at the foot of a large door made of metal and dark wood.

The wizard looked back to the shinobi and warned him, "No matter what happens next, stay close to me."

He used his wand and tapped it to unlock the new defenses. Iruka listened as he heard the sounds of multiple locks click and then the door seemed to tremble. The wizard soon grabbed the handle and pulled the door open a crack. With that much opened, Iruka gasped and lost his posture, he almost doubled over and threw up when he felt the familiar chakra energies burst out through the crack. Right when he was about to pass out when he recognized the disturbingly familiar chakra, a strong hand gripped his shoulder and he looked up into Harry's eyes. To his surprise, he felt the impact of the evil energies lessening and was able to stand up straight again. The wizard kept his hand on his shoulder and looked at Iruka with a much softer and friendlier expression.

"Relax, Umino-san... You are with me..." he smiled.

The wizard tapped his wand onto the door with the other hand and the door opened wide enough for the two men to slip through side-by-side. Harry led him inside as the tip of his wand lit up with a strange light unlike the light activated from a normal wand-lighting spell. The light created a sort of invisible dome-like protection around them as they ventured deeper into the forbidden chamber. They walked into the darkness, the light from Harry's wand giving them no more than fifty feet of visibility around them. They ventured deeper into the darkness until the dark-haired wizard stopped in his tracks. Before Iruka could ask him what the trouble was, he was silenced when the wizard pointed at the end of the chamber at the deepest and darkest shadows. Iruka looked over the man's shoulder and saw the steel bars as well as the small paper seal left behind from the Yondaime Hokage. Through the bars, he made out the outline and then the form of the beast he had seen on the night he lost his parents. He swallowed hard and didn't fight as Harry pulled him from the room, but then something had happened when Iruka let a drop of sweat fall from his nose and made the tiniest noise when it hit the floor.

The wizard noticed the noise and then he cursed out loud, "Oh, fantastic."

The beast stirred in its sleep, while the new gold and silver chains that bound it vibrated as its chakra attempted to seep out through the bars of the cage. Iruka twitched for one second before Harry held up his wand against the beast's claw of chakra. The subconscious attempt to attack Iruka and the wizard had failed as the power of the new lines of defense were activated when Harry used an unknown spell that strengthened the chains. Those wondrous chains of gold and silver shined and pulled the chakra and the beast back deeper into the cage. Harry held his wand up in front of him as he took Iruka away from the beast. He helped him out of the chamber and sealed the door shut once the two of them were back in the corridor. The unbearable chakra that belonged to the demon was then cancelled out as if it never existed, although both the men could still sense a reasonable amount of its power seep out through the door's outline. Harry then dragged Iruka back down the corridor and slipped back into the room where he originally woken up in. Iruka sat down on the massive bed very heavily as he accepted the drink Harry had whisked into existence. It was just water, the chunin realized, as he drank it all down without question or hesitation.

Once he had calmed down enough to talk, he swallowed, "That...that thing... that thing was the..."

"The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox..." the strange man answered with a little humorous shiver, "It's not exactly the friendliest of creatures I've seen in both my lifetimes... but believe me that I've seen worse monsters in people…"

Iruka soon looked to him and asked after some hesitation, "Wait a second... Your lifetimes?"

"As I said before, this is a bit complicated," the wizard answered him.

The chunin then asked him another obvious question, "So, you're not the spirit of the fox?"

"No," he answered, "I have little to do with that monster..."

Iruka was then forced to ask very slowly so that he could get the story straight, "So... if the fox is sealed... and you're not the fox... then, what are you?"

"You better get comfortable," sighed Harry, "because this is going to take a while..."

* * *

><p>After a half-hour of clarification, Harry had informed the chunin of the existence of magic and the world he had come from. But he had to make sure to keep the details of his old world short and simple, because he still had no idea how open-minded Iruka Umino was. Once the details had been taken care of, the chunin decided on an appropriate reaction once he learned about the wizarding world, the existence of magic, and what the wizard in the mindscape was based on the terms he had used to keep it simple.<p>

"Heh…Hehehehehehahahahaha!" he started to laugh when he believed this was all a joke, "What? Are you kidding me? You're a magic-ghost-spirit? Like something out of some old fairy tale or a comic book? That's a riot!"

The tan-skinned chunin continued to laugh while his paler counterpart held an emotionless expression and waited for Iruka to finish so that the two of them could settle business like adults. It took the chunin a solid minute of laughing before he stopped to see that Harry didn't find it as amusing as he did. After his laughter had ended, Iruka's face started to fall into a frown as he felt he might have insulted the master sorcerer.

"Uh... You weren't joking, were you?" he asked.

Harry shook his head and said in voice sounding less than amused, "Not at all... It's one-hundred percent true..."

Iruka soon adopted a more apologetic look, even though he still felt anxious around this unusual man. Back when he was in school, he had once researched on the famous witch-hunts that took place during the first generation of Konohagakure no Sato after it was founded. When the Uchiha clan exterminated the citizens that were accused of witchcraft and other despicable acts of ritualistic violence. Harry put Iruka at ease and ensured him that the type of magic he had heard about was very different from the kind he and Naruto practiced. He explained to him that the magic and evil witches he had heard about were probably false accounts of real magic or mentally disturbed shinobi with the abilities to use powerful genjutsu and fūinjutsu. He explained to him that magic was fairly similar to having a rare kekkei genkai or was considered to be the fourth realm of science, right next to physics, biology, and chemistry. He helped to reassure him as best he could, hoping he would not be intolerant or hostile towards magic, as he expected him to be. But to his surprise, Iruka took the news well, although he had to take some time to take in the truth.

"Wait, so..." he hesitated, "You mean that magic is a lot like chakra?"

Harry answered him, "Well... In a sense, I would say that they are very similar or in some cases the same. The shinobi of this world use ninjutsu to override the natural forces of the world around them. Wizards and witches did the exact same thing with magic, only we swore our abilities to secrecy from the non-magical population... Otherwise, the Muggles would have kept bothering us to make their lives easier for them… so we don't have to do _missions_ for them…. We decided to co-exist with them and keep our abilities and our world a secret, while we also protected them from the forces we were aware existed."

"So the stories and some of the historical lessons I learned in school are..." he started.

The wizard finished for him, "Most likely false accounts of magic, as I said before… The assortment of magic Naruto and I practice works more on a biological or genetic level," he paused, "We're not all evil, especially Naruto and myself..."

The chunin tilted his head at the man a little when he crossed his arms and let his glasses slide down his nose. Soon, he had to pushed them back up to his face and whatever light there was in the room reflected off of his lenses. The gesture and the lighting made the wizard look like a force to be reckoned with while he continued with his next small speech. Iruka listened to him and would never forget his words.

"If someone from Konoha were to call me evil because of what I can do, then I am well within my rights to call you and rest of the people in the shinobi world that contain and can control chakra to be just as malevolent... _It is never our abilities that show us what we truly are_…. _it's our choices_... Naruto never used his magic for ill intent because he chose not to. He never tortured people he didn't like, transformed them into animals, or performed evil rituals. The most that he's ever done to someone with his magic were a few harmless tricks and some of them were unintentional… Those incidences were caused because there were times where he lost control of his powers… It happens to us all while we're still young and vulnerable… when we're at an age where we can't control our emotions all the time…"

Iruka looked to the wizard when he could see his eyes through his glasses again and his face softened. He then felt more at ease in his presence and the wizard smiled when he noticed the shinobi relaxed and then learned that he was now on his side.

* * *

><p>Several minutes of silence permitted the bedroom as neither Iruka nor Harry could speak a word to each other. It was about ten minutes of uncomfortable silence before the chunin decided to break it and ask something that he had been meaning to find out for a while. But he didn't know if the dark-haired wizard would be either offended or upset if he brought it up. He still had to find out some more answers before the two of them could move on. He took a deep breath and then let it all out in the most polite manner he could muster.<p>

"How did you die?" he asked him again when the wizard shadowed his expression, "How exactly did you and all this get here? How are you and Naruto related or even connected if you're not the fox demon?"

Harry sighed before he warned him, "It's a very long story..."

"I listened to you so far, haven't I?" he asked back.

He tried again since he didn't want to ruin his voice, "No, I mean, this is an extremely long and detailed story... like... if we both worked together and wrote it down on paper, it would be at least seven books..."

"Are you serious?" the chunin asked as he raised both his eyebrows.

"Each one longer than the last," the immortal man blew his bangs out of his face before he glanced back at Iruka with a solemn expression on his face, "Would you like me to show you, instead? It would make it so much easier for me."

The chunin on the bed looked to him with surprised brown eyes before the wizard held out his hand for him to take. Iruka took it willingly as Harry led him to the empty space on the wall. With a simple wave of his wand, a silver door emerged from out of the wall and opened up for them, revealing a short and almost narrow corridor. Together, they walked through and entered Harry's office. Iruka observed this new location and had to admit that this office far outclassed the one at the Ninja Academy for the head instructor. Harry then led Iruka to right wing of the office where the he kept the Pensieve. He opened the cabinet and removed the silver disk from its wooden basin. He threw it behind him without thinking twice and it remained suspended up in the air in front of an alarmed Iruka. The chunin looked down at the silver disk and curiously observed the swirling cloud-like mist or vapor that was inside it. Harry then traversed to the opposite side of the office and withdrew the first of two small phials that were labeled with white paper. He took the first phial in his hand and inspected the label that read:

**In Case Naruto Screws Up BIG TIME - Part I**

He carried the first phial with him as Iruka asked him the question he was waiting for him to ask.

"What is this thing?" he asked with a curious voice.

"It's called a Pensieve, Umino-san," the young man answered, "It allows me and Naruto to review our memories whenever we please."

"You're… memories?" he asked again with fascination.

The shorter man explained and expressed his own fascination towards the basin, "Wizards have the ability to siphon our recollections and then view them from a third-person point of view. It's some useful and brilliant magic…"

"You can do that?" he asked, sounding astounded.

The dark-haired man offered the phial in his hand so that the chunin could pour them into the basin and view one of the most incredible tales ever told.

"Here… I want you to pour the contents of this flask into the basin… it will answer all of your questions about me… It's an abridged version of my time at school leading up to my eventual death and involvement in the shinobi world..."

Iruka took the phial from Harry's warm hand and uncorked it. He looked over to the hovering silver bowl and eventually stood over it. The chunin-level shinobi looked into the swirling cloud-like liquid, catching glances of memories and thoughts, but none of them were clear enough to define. He then held the flask above the basin and tilted it as he watched the strange mystic substance fall into the bowl, appearing as if it were ink being dripped into a still pool of water. His chocolate-brown eyes widened as he spotted a newly formed image through the bowl. He got in closer and the images became more and more clear until Iruka dunked his face into the basin.

The tan-skinned chunin felt his entire body fall into the bowl. But before he could shout out in protest, he felt his feet hit solid ground as the shapeless masses of vapor, clouds, and mist started forming into solid structures and images of the past. Iruka found himself on a normal suburban street, sometime in the middle of the night. He looked around and was soon joined with Harry, who had expanded the size of the Pensieve so that he could join the lonesome chunin. Upon a short inspection of the street and houses, Iruka could tell that this place, while it seemed normal, was drastically different from any other place he had seen before in his life. It was as if he were in a different nation or a whole other universe.

He soon stopped turning his head in every direction as he spotted three dark figures gathered around the doorstep of a small house that was marked with the number four; an ancient old man with a silver beard and half-moon glasses, a stern but mournful middle-aged woman wearing emerald-green robes, and an enormous man with a massive beard and fat tears falling down his beetle-black eyes.

"This is where _my_ story begins…"

* * *

><p>{{<em>The Doctor's Theme by Murray Gold &amp; BBC National Orchestra of Wales<em>}}

Iruka Umino, after what seemed like sitting in a movie theater for nineteen hours straight for him, had at last removed his head from the Pensieve.

The wizard that stood next to him had condensed the memories of his time at Hogwarts, treating each of his years at school and on the run as if they were a series of eight motion pictures. Iruka had laughed, cried a little, and jumped as he watched Harry live his life, attend school, fight for his future, and hunt down all the Horcruxes. He took note several times that the wizard bore a striking resemblance to Naruto, even though the two of them looked almost nothing alike except the fact that both of them had the exact same scar on their foreheads and had similar hair conditions. But to Iruka, it was like seeing an alternate version of his little brother running through Hogwarts castle, attending classes, growing up into a man, and fighting through the most terrible and unimaginable danger until he fell after he defeated the mangled, soulless remains of Tom Marvolo Riddle.

The chunin started to understand where Harry was coming from with all of this magic-business.

After observing his past, Iruka pitied the wizard and respected him at the same time for his incredible accomplishments. He remained silent, since he needed a minute to take it all in. The chunin sat down in what would more often than not be Naruto's chair in the office and rested his head into his hands before he could talk.

"So… all of that… it was real..." breathed the chunin.

Harry answered him with a small nod, "Yes. It was at one time or another."

"What happened to that world…? The Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts Castle, and all that other stuff?" he asked as he hoped that he could see it for himself, "Is it still around?"

The wizard sighed, "I haven't the slightest idea… At first I thought that I was banished to another realm, trapped in a parallel world because I didn't know what I was doing and defied the laws of nature… But for as long I have lived through Naruto, I have come to believe that I might just be in the same world that I left behind, just in a different time and nation. But after studying the local history and observing the technology the people of this world possess, the possibility that I went backwards through time is unlikely... So then I got the idea that I was thrust forward through time, because none of the geography of this world was recognizable and must have changed over the course of millennia. But then that idea became problematic, because technology would have and should have advanced so much further than this... Unless something happened in the future to cause mankind to take a step backward in technological development or be forced to keep it the same and turn to natural technological development..."

"So the final conclusion, professor?" asked Iruka after his head started to hurt.

The wizard sighed again, "Again, I haven't the slightest idea... But that doesn't mean that I won't seek the answers in the future... I just need more evidence aside from the existence of potion ingredients and phoenixes... I need to find ruins and lost cities… But all of that can wait…"

Iruka paused as he looked down at the floor and sighed once he realized that he would not be able to see to that magical world. But soon he smiled and couldn't believe that all of that was real at one point in time and started to shake his head has he smiled.

"This seems like something out of a dream," he said as he sat back in his seat.

Harry smiled at the chunin, "Trust me, I know _exactly_ how you feel…"

"Could I have another-" before the chunin could finish his request, the wizard held out a second glass of water for him, "Oh, thanks…"

When he finished his tall glass in a few short gulps, the wizard asked him "You're alright, though?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered, "but I have one question before we continue…"

Harry snapped his fingers, "Shoot."

"When you were at the Viaduct Courtyard battling Voldemort…" the chunin hesitated with the question and then his face lit up and his fists were clenched with a little bit of adrenaline and excitement, "Why didn't you just shoot him in the face and make his head explode? Don't get me wrong, that incineration was sweet and all, but with all those people watching and him turning into dust like he did when he died, that would have been so freaking epic!"

Harry gave the chunin a flat look and almost felt like punching him in the face for a second.

"Ok..." the chunin sweatdropped, "Never mind..."

Iruka stood up with the wizard and the two of them walked over to the west wing of the office to examine the numerous phials containing more memories and thoughts. Harry frowned with a dark look on his face when he reached out and picked the second phial in the collection that was also labeled like the previous one.

**In Case Naruto Screws Up BIG TIME - Part II**.

He handed Iruka the second phial and he poured the contents into the floating silver basin. Harry nodded to the chunin and Iruka dunked his head inside again and was overwhelmed with the same sensation of falling that he felt before.

* * *

><p>{{<em>Severus and Lily <em>_by Alexandre Desplat +_ _Dumbledore's Farewell by Nicholas Hooper_}}

When the smoke cleared and the memories were solid again, Iruka was inside of the Hokage's office, standing right in the middle of the room. But it looked different. There were boxes filled with books, scrolls, and silver whistling trinkets that the Hokage had laced over his entire working place. It looked like he was in the process of either moving in or out of the office. Harry was standing right next to him while Iruka spotted the Hokage sitting down in a guest chair and hovering over a white baby carriage. Iruka didn't notice it at first, but Sarutobi had fewer wrinkles on his face and had darker-colored hair. The same shade of color he remembered the old man had back when the two of them were at the memorial for the first time.

Even though he was still suspended inside of the memories of an infant, the chunin jumped at the sight of his leader, forgetting that this was a recollection. Iruka had an animated or rather comical reaction when he saw his leader alone in his office.

"Hokage-sama," he bowed and then he apologized, "I'm sorry for bursting in like this!"

The wizard next to him frowned and then elbowed him and then crossed his arms, "You idiot! Cut it out, won't you? These are memories remember? There's no way they can hear or see us!"

The older chunin looked over to the Hokage and noticed that the old man was not as old as he was back in the real world. As a result, Iruka's cheeks turned a little red while he rubbed the back of his head as a clear indication that he was embarrassed.

"Oh right, sorry," he apologized to the sorcerer.

"You should really learn to loosen up, Umino-san," the shorter man told him, "You'll never be able to live if you don't learn to relax or fool around every once in a while…"

The chunin nodded and then he cooed when he spotted his infant little brother, "Awwwww… He's so cute!"

Harry turned toward the scene as Sarutobi reached into the carriage and carried the baby Naruto out of his little crib and rocked him back and forth in his arms when the infant started to cry a little bit. The bawling baby boy was silenced as he looked up to his grandfather with large and wondrous blue eyes. The old man looked down upon the cooing newborn child with tears streaming down his face, saddened at the fact that this child would grow up without knowing his mother or father's love. The old man held the boy close to him as he sat down in the old seat behind his desk and now let new tears stream down his cheeks at how beautiful the newborn was, and how much he resembled his biological parents. He spoke to the infant with a soft voice, hoping he could understand his words.

"Naruto-chan… I am so sorry... Your mother was... she was…" he wept while he imagined the hardships the child would have to face without his mother to protect him, "If I fail to take care of you as she would have wished... then please forgive me... and this village... Please... Forgive them all… Please…"

As Sarutobi lightly brushed Naruto's soft forehead and exposed his fresh lightning-bolt scar, the scene dissolved and reformed into a hilltop somewhere in the miles of luxuriant fields behind the Hokage Mountain sometime around noon. Iruka looked around and saw a very young Naruto standing in front of another child that must have been a little bit older than him. The chunin tilted his head because he couldn't figure out who this was until his companion explained it to him.

"That was one of the children requested to play with Naru-chan when Sarutobi was having one of his picnics with family and friends."

The little version of Naruto must have been no more than two years old, since he still wore overalls and not all of his teeth had grown out. While he watched the child have fun, Iruka couldn't believe how adorable Naruto looked when he was this small. The chunin failed to resist smiling while his adoptive little brother kept tripping over his own feet and stood up again to play. The tiny boy fell down again and laughed as he reached and pulled a few pieces of dead grass on the ground and held them in his hands when he stood up. The other small child watched as Naruto held it out to him and unknowingly used wandless magic for what can be assumed was his first time. The life in the grass was miraculously restored and then it was transformed into a simple but beautiful little white flower. The transfigured form of life hovered above his hands as the little chibi-child smiled and giggled at it with an adorable voice.

"Pwetty!"

The small child offered it to his new friend, who scowled and heartlessly whacked the flower out of Naruto's hands. The little blonde boy was then struck across the face when the other child thought he was a demon.

"You're a freak!"

The much smaller child hit the ground on his bottom and started to wail. He soon stood up and ran back towards the large willow tree on the hilltop where the Hokage and the other adults were gathered around a wooden table. The small child ran up to the surprised old man who quickly embraced him and patted him on the back to calm him down. A few seconds later, while the other child's shouts and harsh words began to echo and fade, the scenery changed again, turning into a swirling, shapeless mass. Once it became solid again, Iruka and Harry were in the middle of the streets of the village and were surrounded by crowds of people; all of them were staring daggers at the toddler who was being accompanied by Ebisu when he was a teenager. All of them glared at the pair and said countless harsh words under their breath before their voices became audible to them.

"What a freak…"

"I told you not to look at him!"

"He doesn't have a family…"

"I hope he rots!"

"Why won't he just die?"

"Get lost!"

"Go away!"

"Freak!"

With each passing insult, Iruka watched in unspeakable sadness as the little toddler cried and cried. The child's hired sitter kept pulling his arm aggressively even while he bawled and let the tears roll down his cheeks in endless streams.

He cried again and again, "Oww! Ouch! Oww! Stop it!"

"Move it! You slow idiot! Move it or I'll give you something to whine about!" the teen Ebisu snarled like an animal.

The scene changed again, and transformed into the outside of the Council Meeting Chamber. Harry and Iruka found their small little brother, still a toddler, sitting alone on a bench placed outside of the double doors that led into the chamber. The two watched little Naruto as he stood up from his seat, wearing little red rain boots, and opened one of the large oak doors wide enough so that he could listen to the voices he heard from the other room. The two men walked straight through the doors as if the two of them were ghosts and saw everything that Naruto did at one time. Sarutobi was standing before the council, all of who were sitting upon seats of undeserving power. The aged faces of some of Konoha's most corrupt citizens looked down upon their masterful leader as if he were a simple peasant. Sarutobi looked upset and furious while the elders looked smug and victorious.

"I swore on the night of his mother's death, that I would take care of him! Kushina Uzumaki was a dear friend to me and it's only right that I take care of her son! The child's godfather abandoned him when he relinquished his responsibilities! Now he has no one else left to go to but me! You cannot do this to my grandchild! You cannot take him from me!"

An unattractive councilman with one eye answered him with an arrogant voice, "You already have one of those now, Hokage-sama. An entire village full of them, according to the Will of Fire and all that insane nonsense you believe in. We just don't see the point as to why you feel the need to take care of another household pet. It's too much of a handful."

"_How dare you refer to my grandson as some kind of animal?_" the Hokage hissed,"_He is a human child!_"

The hideous old man with the one eye stated clearly, "He is not under your control anymore, Sarutobi. That so-called _child_ is registered as a civilian; therefore he is considered _our_ property. Unless he's given the chance and becomes a shinobi in the future, he will never be yours again."

"You people are all sick," he said through his teeth, "To force an innocent child that small to live on his own! Without love or even companionship..."

The one eyed old man said, "We do not acknowledge that_ beast_ as a child. The discussion is over and the verdict has been made final. He is to be removed from your place of residence and be placed under a roof of his own until further notice. The apartment that we chosen for him is the one residing in the thirteenth downtown district…"

"But that area is close to the slums. It's too dangerous for him to live out there on his own…" argued the Hokage.

The repulsive old man smiled at the Hokage, "That was the point, Hiruzen…"

"You manipulative coward-bastard-" the kind old man growled before Naruto peaked through the door.

Naruto mumbled in a weak voice as Sarutobi almost collapsed at seeing him, "Gwampa?"

The chamber then vanished and all Iruka and his new friend could see were a bunch of swirling images that couldn't be distinguished between people or places. The two of them caught glimpses of Naruto either smiling or crying (much more of the latter) and the name Hayate was mentioned several times, although it was muddled. Since these recollections were not clear, it didn't leave much of an impression on either man as neither of them could see or hear anything clear enough to associate that name with. The older wizard explained to Iruka that these were suppressed recollections that must have been tampered with when Naruto was about five or six. But he was able to save two conversations, but no images were salvaged from the recesses of Naruto's tampered memories.

It sounded like Naruto talked to a teenager that must have been one of his old caretakers. It sounded like the man was about to leave him and Naruto was distraught about it. The unknown caretaker did sound reluctant to leave while he tried to comfort the child as best he could.

"_Who's gonna take care of me when you're gone!_"

"_My teammates need me now, Naruto_... _I don't want to leave..._"

The next conversation sounded the same as the first, but this one must have been the moment before Naruto's memories, of this time in his life, were suppressed or erased. Because the teen in this one made it obvious and clear that he was about to tamper with his mind. The voice did sound more remorseful and even sad while he apologized to the unfortunate blonde child.

"_N-n-no! P-Please! You can't leave too! Please, don't make me go back! Don't let me be alone!_"

"_Be still, poor child… Your memories of me will soon be gone… You'll be rid of the pain of remembering me… I'm so sorry…_"

The montage of unknowable memories came to an abrupt halt when another recollection came out of the blue. The two men found themselves in Naruto's apartment. The toddler was sitting down in a corner, sobbing into his knees. He kept pulling at his hair, as it seemed that all of the caretakers had abandoned him at this point in time. The two gentlemen could see dark bruises on his tear-streaked face, which meant that his landlord must have been hurting him. The two could hear the sounds of that same landlord trying to break down the door in a drunken rage, meanwhile little Naruto had to bear through the unspeakable terror until the door broke down, which prompted him to hide inside his closet. When the scene was focused again, the two of them watched another montage of all of the most miserable and traumatic moments in Naruto's childhood. They saw him getting beaten up, struck by his apartment manager, spat on, kicked, punched, and left out in the rain while he was forced to watched other people warm inside their homes. It would seem that the landlord locked him out or threatened to hurt him again if he tried to get back inside.

When the scene dissolved again, it turned into an abandoned street corner, where Naruto drew a cartoon-version of himself with two cartoon parents in the dirt. He made small happy faces on the characters with his fingers and sat back to appreciate his art and wish with all his heart that he could be contented like the characters in his picture. But soon the skies were blanketed in darkness and it started to rain. Soon, the scene was changed to where the blonde child was lost in the streets of the village, on a wet avenue after a rainstorm. Naruto was in the middle of the road in the deepest and most dangerous area of the town. He was soaked from head to toe and looked like he hadn't bathed in over a week. It would seem that someone lured him out there to get lost and was left alone in the streets to survive. The poor child kept asking for help from all those around them, but he was ignored and often pushed to the side into a pile of garbage bags.

"Somebody! Anybody? Help me! Please, help me! I'm lost! I wanna go home! I want my mommy!"

Almost all of the villagers and shinobi ignored the child and pretended that he didn't even exist. Meanwhile, other civilians and shinobi looked at him with contempt and blind hatred. Those cold stares caused the child to sob even more. It didn't help him when some of the worst citizens took the time to insult him and make him feel worse than he did while he was lost and scared to death.

"Monster!"

"Demon brat!"

"Why won't you just die?"

Iruka watched in horror when one teenaged villager decided to have some fun with his friends and began to chase the small boy into an alleyway. The little Naruto ran right into Iruka and burst into smoke before rematerializing and continued to run. The caramel-skinned chunin was not able to feel Naruto physically hit him but he felt his heart break into a thousand pieces as he turned and continued to watch. The older man felt tears fall down his cheeks as he watched that monstrous group of teens track down and trap little Naruto at a dead end. Once he was cornered, they bullied him and then beat him up until his skin was decorated with fresh bruises and blood. The child started screaming, crying, and begging them to stop. The sound alone was horrible to listen to and made both the men watching feel sick to their stomachs at the sounds of the child's screaming. But those thugs were merciless and continued to strike little Naruto with sticks and fists even when the toddler begged them to stop.

"STOP IT! YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

Iruka couldn't take it anymore. So he roared at the bullies and ran at them with his face furious with rage. He burst forward and tried to grab at the first of the teenage brats and throw them off the poor child. But then he froze when his hands ran right through them as if the people were made out of smoke and mist. Harry pulled Iruka back and told the man to close his eyes until it was over. Iruka felt disgusted both physically and mentally as he heard the distant sounds of solid fists slamming against weak flesh and bone. When he opened his eyes, he watched as the men abandoned little Naruto and were summoned under the command of an Uchiha police officer named Inabi. With the monsters distracted, Naruto tried to run towards the opposite direction, but he fell down. Iruka watched in horror as the bloodied and bruised form of his little brother limped towards the exit, but then the police officer noticed his actions and pointed at him. This prompted the others to continue with their brutalities with the Uchiha clan member in the lead. Naruto tried to run but it was pointless when one of the men picked up and threw a rock at him when he was close to the corner. The rock hit the poor child in the head and he fell to the ground, unconscious. Soon after, the teenagers realized what had happened when the child didn't move and blood started oozing out of his head. The group assumed he was dead and Inabi Uchiha made a break for it before the ANBU would find them.

With that done, the scene was changed into the mindscape where Naruto curled into a ball and cried. Since the new realm was his mindscape, the non-existent ceiling started to rain as tears poured down his face. But soon, the version of Harry from six years ago arrived and comforted the child in their first encounter. After that last recollection the events that took place over the course of their relationship unfolded before the chunin-level shinobi. He stood there with the dark-haired man and watched the rest of Naruto's childhood and re-experienced some of the most important and wonderful moments that led to Naruto finding the letters about his adoption. The mist shifted and swirled and Iruka witnessed the recent mission and the incident in the Land of Waves. He watched all the important details including the scene when Naruto watched his teammate die and then the demon fox took him over while he was most vulnerable.

* * *

><p>{{<em>Harry's Sacrifice by Alexandre Desplat<em>}}

Once it was over, the tan-skinned shinobi removed his head from the Pensieve and tried to remember how to breathe again. Harry had already removed his face from the basin and stood off to the side as he watched Iruka step back to the side of the office, leaning down against a row of books. He tried to refuse that what he had seen was real, focusing on the hardships and horrors of Naruto's miserable childhood. He always had a hunch that it must have been awful, but he had no idea that it was as bad as what he had witnessed.

He felt shaken down to his core, like he was going to throw up.

"I'm sorry…" apologized the wizard, "I'm so sorry that you had to see all of that, Umino-san... But I felt that it was for the best… You need to know more about his past in order to understand him now… It comes to show how good-natured he is deep down… To have a childhood as bad as his was and have the powers of a wizard and still be able to turn out as well as he did… It was a miracle that he never turned out to be an evil or dark sorcerer… I guess it was a good thing that I was around to raise him right… Teach him how to be better than the people that hurt him..."

Another pause permeated the air as the chunin knocked down a large amount of stacked books on accident while he looked up at the wizard, "I... I had no-idea that he had it so bad... No one ever said that he... Hokage-sama never told me about this! None of this!"

"I'd be surprised if he did..." said the deceased man, "He never even found out about most of those incidents... There were no mobs with pitchforks and torches. Just a small number of shinobi or civilians, waiting in the dark to attack him once he fell into their trap… A whole lot of these ambushes were planned out and then orchestrated by these radicals and then kept secret from the Hokage... Back when the Uchiha clan reigned supreme over the village and let muggers and criminals get away with disgusting crimes like those we just saw... In fact, a large portion of the people from that infamous clan took part in most of the apartment raids and public brutalities..."

Iruka let his head fall back into his hands again and he whispered, "Th-those people tortured him…"

"It wasn't until the Uchiha were almost wiped clean off the map did most of these problems start to stop... I don't need to elaborate much further... You saw it…"

The chunin then said after another long pause after he realized, "Wait a second, I just realized… This whole time... You have forced Naruto to act like an idiot..." he raised his voice but almost broke down again, "Have you no idea how damaging that can be to a child's development; hiding his abilities and take all of the crap thrown at him all the time? I'm surprised he never went insane after he discovered the truth about the fox demon!"

"I understand where you're coming from, Umino-san..." he started gently, "I did take that into account when I realized what I had to do to keep him safe... But that's just the thing, I didn't have another choice if I didn't want Naruto's abilities to be discovered and have him hunted down."

Iruka did not attempt to protest against Harry's decision, since he had seen the reasons behind his actions.

"Believe me, I would have loved to see Naru-chan show off his abilities and his true intelligence… But it was too dangerous. Given the circumstances, including the fox and the contempt held against him because of it, showing off his magical and non-magical talents would have made things so much worse for him... Not to mention, that some of the Uchiha, Mizuki, and Uncle Vernon-erm-I mean-Daikoku Funeno were suspicious of him after the incident with the stolen books. He had to pretend be an idiot if I wanted him to survive… The villagers are stupid enough to believe that he's a monster. So what's to say that those people wouldn't use the first excuse possible to make them believe that everything he does that's brilliant is connected to the beast? It's blind discrimination all over again! If they saw intelligence and immeasurable power hiding underneath his skin, they would have stopped at nothing to have him put down with the fox demon's existence as an excuse to justify their actions. Not to mention that if the council found out what he could do, they probably would have stopped at nothing to harvest his powers and have him turned into some weapon…"

The chunin held his hands up in surrender and nodded when he recalled the reasons from the Pensieve, "Ok... I get it..."

"You understand then... The reason he overreacted back inside the woods and he tried to run…"

The chunin closed his eyes and nodded one more time when he felt overwhelmed with shame when he imagined how Naruto must have felt at that moment. Iruka's face was now so much softer with emotion now that he knew and understood so much. He knew now that Naruto was more than haunted with abandonment and that he feared he would be thrown back into the dark. It was no wonder that he tried to run than face that possibility.

"You and I are both aware that he doesn't have a lot of friends... Sure he's spent loads of time with the Nara child and the heir to the Akimichi clan, but their friendship didn't exactly blossom outside of the classroom... It wasn't until you came around did he begin to know what it was like to have a real friendship with someone that wasn't a rival, an old man, or a voice he could hear inside his head... You were there for him... You've taken him to Ichiraku Ramen, talked to him whenever he was sad or alone, taken stupid pictures together, and gave him all the love and attention a child like him needed when no one else would or could give it to him… You adopted him for goodness sake. Those are bonus points! You've done more for him than the Hokage was able to accomplish in a decade! You were his teacher, his mentor, and one of his first actual friends…"

Iruka smiled a little at the last bit when he realized how important and positive he was in the child's life. Meanwhile he resisted the subtle temptation to let his tears leak out and flow down his cheeks when he remembered the smile on Naruto's face about one month prior to the adoption.

"I don't mean to overwhelm you with all this, Umino-san… Forgive me, but I felt that all of this had to be done… And with that said, there is not much left to tell. You're up to speed… That's all there is to know about Naruto's secret little world…" then the sorcerer chuckled a little, "Heh! To think, he wanted to tell you about this for such a long time… and now the time has come."

The tan-skinned chunin breathed as he looked up at the ceiling. He never noticed it until now, but he was looking up into a projection of outer space. He raised his brow at the sight of the endless planets and horizons and became lost within its depths. The wizard soon joined him and watched the ceiling move and swirl until something curious happened. Iruka looked towards the door of the office and listened as he heard the sounds of some strange music coming from another area of the mindscape. It was faint at first, but soon it started increasing in strength and reached his ears enough for him to become entranced with it.

"What's that music?" he asked.

Harry smiled as he stood up and reached for his wand, "I think its Naruto. He must be in the orchestra room."

"There's an orchestra room now?"

Iruka stood up from the ground and followed the wizard to the door. He closed the door shut and when he reopened it, the narrow corridor had vanished and turned into a door leading to the source of the music. The two of them walked through the passage and discovered a balcony located around the corner. The wizard and the shinobi were now inside of a wonderful and enormous theater, decked out with scarlet and gold tapestries and velvet. Iruka and Harry both looked down and noticed there was no stage, just an orchestra pit filled with every instrument imaginable. There were these strange white creatures down in the seats, faceless humanoid shapes that played the instruments provided to them. The conductor was the only real person in the room apart from the two gentlemen watching from above. It was Naruto, using his mindscape wand as a baton while he commanded the orchestra to continue the piece Iruka heard from the office.

{{_Reminiscence/Brothers by Michiru Oshima (Theme to the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime)_}}

The two men took seats up in the gallery and watched as Naruto continued to command the symphony. The tan-skinned chunin stared in complete awe, as he had never seen his little brother look so content and exultant while the chains from the real world were removed in this realm and he was able to be free while he created music.

The wizard in the chair next to him smiled as he closed his eyes and listened to the music, "Isn't it amazing? Such a wonder bit of magic he's mastered... I taught him how to do all that down there. I'm still impressed that he learned to command an orchestra at his age and at his level. It makes me think back to when he was little... I can remember back when he would just sit down and watch me performing lullabies and Mozart on the grand piano so I could get him to sleep. He became so fascinated with the power of music and then he started begging me to teach him…"

For the next thirty minutes, the two men decided to sit down and listen to Naruto as he conducted the symphony and choir. The two of them sat there in their comfortable velvet seats and listened to magnificent rhythms and tunes of classical and modern orchestra. Harry smiled down at the performance and smirked once or twice while Iruka smiled as well and listened to the music. But soon, the chunin's smile fell from his face and he looked down at his hands. He appeared to be sad but at the same time he looked distant and pleased, as if he had made an important decision. Iruka soon found the strength to talk but did not turn to face the man close to him.

"Harry..." the chunin started with a saddened voice.

The immortal sorcerer sat back up and looked to the caramel-skinned gentleman looking down into the orchestra pit.

"I'm sorry that I didn't trust you at first... and for reacting the way I did... It was foolish of me…" he apologized.

Harry closed his eyes and said. "You don't have to apologize... You reacted exactly the way I expected you to... You're only human after all…"

"I promise…" the shinobi said all of a sudden as he started to smile again, "that I will never turn my back on him… This magic he has... it isn't a curse or anything considered remotely evil… It's a blessing… After all the crap he's been through, in combination of you raising him to be a good person; Naruto deserves to be a wizard... I saw his memories and I saw the good he has done with it and I know what he can do in the future… He's a good boy with a good heart… I know that he wants to become Hokage and he wants to protect the people he cares about… And I'm sure that he will never be like the Death Eaters or the enemies he's faced so far… He has the Will of Fire in his heart and that flame will keep him kind and true, as it has for me…"

The old wizard looked to the tan-skinned gentleman and smiled as well.

"Naruto is my little brother now," he continued, "and I'll always be there for him, even if he is different… I'll always watch his back no matter what happens... I will always be proud of him... and I will always love and protect him…"

Harry sighed and then he said with a small smile, "Then I'm glad that I can rely on you from now on, Iruka Umino..."

The chunin looked perplexed and listened to him while the music turned more passionate, almost fitting the conversation.

"Iruka…You must understand that I cannot protect him all the time. In truth, I am actually counting on you to keep him safe, whenever it is possible for you… I am asking you this because I can see, so clearly in your eyes, that you love him as dearly and as much as I do… Please protect him… Please keep our little brother safe…"

The chunin hesitated before he smiled at the wizard, seeing him in a much more positive light and then he answered, "I will. I promise."

Harry smiled in the same fashion that Naruto used to before he stood up and decided to head back to the office. When the orchestra concert ended, Iruka followed the wizard back to the silver door and assisted with cleaning up his office once he realized the mess he had made after the second trip into the Pensieve. Once the office was cleaned, the two of them decided to chat for a while and get to know each other a little better. The two men took their time and even started to joke around while they talked about old stories and past adventures.

* * *

><p>After some time, Harry had to admit that making contact with someone else from the shinobi world was fascinating.<p>

Iruka turned out to be an incredibly humorous person once he was isolated from the other shinobi of the village. He considered the man to be a complete goofball, on the same levels as Naruto or his best mate Ron. It was strange that he had never shown this side of his personality; otherwise, he would have been Konoha's most eligible bachelor, a possible rival to Kakashi Hatake or Asuma Sarutobi.

When asked his reasons for never showing off his more humorous side, he told the wizard that he chose to hide his less mature side and be more serious on the outside ever since he turned genin. Iruka told him that he needed to be an adult through-and-through in order to become a better shinobi and a teacher. Upon learning these new facts, the wizard reached out to Iruka and pointed out that these obvious flaws had a negative effect on his teaching methods as well as his personal life. Harry encouraged him to let that humorous side out more often and learn how to live his life while he still had it. Iruka nodded in response and decided that he could give it a shot once in a while.

But then the conversation was switched back to the subject of teaching, seeing as both of these men were, in fact, teachers. Harry told his new companion about his own methods when he taught Naruto. Back where he would walk Naruto through the steps and condense facts and lectures down to the simplest details or make more relatable examples to help him understand. He also mentioned that he was a bit eccentric while he was teaching and that he would make a lot of expressions and gestures while he lectured to keep Naruto's small but curious academic mind stimulated.

Iruka was surprised and amused at how effective those methods were. But after the conversation was switched towards his own teaching methods, Harry began to frown a little bit as he started to remember the chunin's lectures. He could remember almost falling asleep in the mindscape while he listened in on Naruto's classes in the second and third terms. He felt the need to help this man out while there was still time.

"No offense, Umino-san," he said with an uncomfortable smile, "But those teaching methods are dull. It's no wonder the kids fall asleep in class."

Iruka scowled in a comedic fashion, "Oi! Watch it, Potter!"

"Heh! I hate to be a wise-arse," he laughed as he tried to calm his companion down, "But I almost fell asleep in those classes on multiple occasions… That's not a good sign, considering the fact that I _wanted_ to learn as much as I could about the shinobi world. With a mind as open and dedicated as mine is now, it's a surprise that I could fall asleep like I did."

The chunin soon asked in a worried voice, "Those classes were _that_ boring? I wasn't as bad as that _Funeno_, was I?"

"Well, the last teacher that made me do that was Professor Binns... But, no. Never mind, don't be so daft…" the wizard replied with a smile, "You were a brilliant teacher! With that dedication, don't let anyone but me tell you otherwise. You just need to keep the students interested in learning, that's all. You have to keep them invested. Show them descriptions; draw out battles and how chakra works on the blackboard using the silliest examples and break complex problems down so that it can be universally understood! Get those children excited about the lectures like it's their favorite television show or whatever Muggle children stare at in their free time in this world."

Iruka raised one of his eyebrows and asked, "You think that can work?"

"It worked on Naruto and if it can work on him, it can work on anyone," the dark-haired wizard reassured him.

The tan-skinned shinobi soon smiled in appreciation, "Wow…Thanks for the advice…"

Harry smiled once more now that he felt he managed to help someone else other than his little blonde brother.

* * *

><p>After another hour, Harry decided to check how much time had passed since Iruka Umino first entered the mindscape. The wizard took out a silver pocket watch and estimated the amount of time down to the last second. He had to make sure he wasn't reading it wrong and pushed his glasses to his face and made sure he still wasn't mistaken. But there it was in the palm of his hand and he was surprised that he had been in conversation and business with Iruka. The time didn't seem to phase either of them. He then whistled out loud and raised his brow while he let a drop of sweat run down his temple.<p>

"Well," he said as he closed the watch, "Look at the time! You've been here for over twenty-four hours!"

The shinobi looked frozen when he thought back to how he had entered the mindscape and then he shouted, "**WHAT?**"

"Yeah," the wizard laughed, "You've been here for a while! Can you believe it?"

"NO! YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME," he outraged with a loud voice, "_What if Kakashi comes around and sees me and Naruto frozen like statues!_"

But then the wizard interrupted him with a smile when the chunin reminded him of Ron again, "Relax, Umino-san. Relax."

"How can you expect me to relax when-" the chunin started.

Harry then explained to him, "Time doesn't flow the same in this realm. Hours here can seem like minutes or even seconds in the real world. You can relax now, Umino-san. Back in the real world, no more than five or ten minutes have passed at the most," the wizard closed his eyes and pressed his fingers to his temples so that he could stretch out his senses and observe the outside world, "Kakashi is still a bit deeper in the woods, reading one of his Make-Out Paradise books… while he should be worried about the outcome of this situation…"

Iruka sighed and slumped back down in the chair before he took in what the sorcerer informed him and then muttered under his breath at the mention of the last detail, "Pervert…"

"You're telling me," laughed the wizard, "But that aside; this is what I keep telling you. You have got to learn to stop being such an up-tight grown-up all the time, Iruka-san…."

Harry took a breath and stretched before he looked up towards the clock and decided that he had done his work and that he had imprisoned this wonderful man long enough. He looked back down at the tan-skinned chunin and smiled a sad but warm smile, "But... I suppose it's about time you returned to the real world…"

The chunin smiled at him as well and replied, "I would like that…"

Iruka watched as the wizard pressed his hand against his forehead and there was a sudden warmth in the touch. The tan-skinned chunin felt a strange sensation hit him and he looked at his hand to see that it was disappearing. It looked like he was turning into a ghost, or fading out of existence. He soon realized that his new friend was sending him back to the real world. He could almost feel the warmth of the sun beating down on his face and neck but then the sensation ceased and Iruka remained within the mindscape. The wizard had stopped the process once he realized that he had forgotten something important. He walked up to the transparent shinobi and forced his existence back into the office and confronted him.

"But there's one more thing we need to discuss, before I send you back into the real world…" he said as he placed his wand back inside his robes.

The chunin patted his solid chest and hips before he asked, "What is it?"

Both Iruka and Harry sat back down in the office chairs and began to go through the last face-to-face conversation with each other for a while.

* * *

><p>{{<em>Ron's Speech by Alexandre Desplat<em>}}

Iruka blinked as the darkness began to fade and the light of the real world came back to him. He felt the wind against his face, and the sounds and smells of the forests all returned to him at once as his vision blurred like before. But soon it all cleared up and he was back in the woods where he and Naruto had sat down to talk. The small child lowered his hands from his face while he too returned to the real world. The genin turned nervous while Iruka stared down at him in astonishment for a while. He closed his eyes, unable to see the look he expected Iruka to have on his face in a few agonizing seconds. But the chunin's face had instead softened and several loose tears streamed down his cheeks as he looked down at the frightened child. He pulled the child towards him and gave him the biggest hug he could muster without crushing him with his strength. Naruto opened his eyes in complete surprise and rubbed his cheek into his sibling's chest.

"Naruto-otōto... You never have to hide anything from me... I will _never_ turn you away, do you understand?" he asked as he pulled the boy back to look at him, "I don't care about the demon or the possession... not at all... And I'm not upset about the truth either… I am so proud that I have a little sorcerer for a little brother… You have no idea how proud I am… I saw all of it…"

The child's face flushed with color and he buried his face back into Iruka's chest at the same time the two of them embraced.

"I-I'm sorry I lied…" he sobbed, "I wanted to tell you, aniki..."

Naruto tried to hide the tears that started to pour down his face and wiped them onto his older brother's chunin vest while he smiled and listened to his heartbeat.

"I know... But I don't care about that… And to be honest, I think that Harry is a very good influence on you... But no matter what, you can still come and talk to me, ok?" the brave man hugged the poor child one more time and then stood up, pulling the blonde child with him, "Come on, we better let Kakashi know that everything is ok…"

"So... Are we good now?" the small child sniffed and then finished his question, "Between the two of us, I mean? I don't have to lie anymore?"

The tan-skinned adoptive sibling looked down at his smaller brother and smiled at him with a warm and familiar expression, "Yes. You don't ever have to lie to me again…"

Naruto grinned from ear to ear and cried out his old teacher's name before he pounced on him. Iruka laughed while he let the small child clamber over him until he was seated on his shoulders. He gripped his little brother's legs to make sure he remained balanced and then began to jog towards Kakashi's location, letting the genin resting on his shoulders be a normal kid for once in his life.

"HERE WE GO!" he cheered in a deep voice as he acted as Naruto's trusted steed, "GERONIMO!"

The blonde-haired shinobi gripped the padding on the shoulders of his oldest sibling and held on tight while the two of them increased speed and zoomed through the woods so fast that the world turned into a smear of multiple colors. Naruto smiled as the wind forced tears to leak out of his face and he cried out, "Dattebayo!"

Iruka soon slowed down into a normal run when he reached Kakashi. But the chunin did not dislodge his companion when he stopped, much to the blonde child's delight. The jounin looked up when the tan-skinned gentleman came into sight, and was surprised to see his student perched on top of his shoulders as if the two of them were siblings, regardless of their drastic age difference and skin color. Kakashi's mouth snapped shut at the sight as if he almost disapproved this strange man hogging his student from him. He almost felt the need to say something about it, but then he realized that the two of them had sorted out the affair and it all turned out well in the end. He set aside his subtle disapproval and remained silent until he heard the loud voice he was prepared for.

"Hello, Kakashi-sensei!" his student called down from his perch.

The masked shinobi waved up to him before he turned to the chunin and tried to get some answers, "It's good to see you're feeling better, Naruto... So it turned out fine in the end, Iruka? He told you about the... possession?"

"Oh, please," the tan-skinned man rolled his eyes, "I don't even care about that crap. It wasn't even his fault. If I were in his place, I would have done the same."

Kakashi was surprised at this turn of events; so he let out a breath and held his hand overtop his chest, "Well, that's wonderful to hear... Brilliant… A lot less work for me then..."

"Thanks for the help, Kakashi-sensei," the chunin said in respect before he started to act a bit more asinine, "But we're late for ramen!"

Naruto perked his head up and then cheered out loud, "RAMEN!"

The masked man smiled to them both before he gave them a kind wave and considered his secret mission accomplished. Kakashi made sure to remember these details when he would write his report. He then removed his perverted literature from his weapons pouch and started reading it while he continued to make his farewell. Iruka did not approve of the choice of literature and frowned when he recognized the red restriction mark and the orange cover. He also tried his best not to look at the pages with pictures on them, to avoid another one of those terrible nosebleeds.

"Heh! You should get out there now before it closes then," cheered on the jounin, "I'll see you at the reservoir tomorrow at seven o'clock, Naruto. Don't be late!"

With that said and done, Kakashi turned and then disappeared without a trace. Naruto waited a few more seconds so he could be safe to speak his mind and then he looked down to Iruka with a soft smile on his face. He then muttered to him through the corner of his mouth, "I'll show up at ten o'clock instead."

"Heh! Sounds like a plan," he chuckled back to him and shouted, "NOW LET'S GO!"

Naruto laughed when his older brother turned towards the village and zoomed through the woods at top speeds. Iruka also couldn't help but smile while the two of them sped through the forests of the village in hot pursuit of the world's most delicious ramen noodles.

"BANZAI!" he shouted as loud as he could.

* * *

><p>{{<em>The Reunion by John Williams<em>}}

Later that night, Iruka Umino was having a little bit of trouble going to sleep. Because he never would have thought that this spectacular and wondrous affair would have ever happened when he returned from his mission earlier. But he was glad that all of it did and that he and Naruto were now closer than ever before. He rolled to his side on the bed and looked down at little Naruto while he snuggled on the futon like a little lion cub. Iruka smiled and ran his fingers through his golden-blonde hair as the child leaned in toward the touch. The chunin couldn't help but feel so proud of the child after he watched him learn so much when he saw him in the Pensieve.

He was talented and clever for his age. Even though he wasn't a shinobi genius and still had his idiotic tendencies, he was still [as the other wizard put it] fantastic.

But there was still something that was on Iruka's mind about this turn of events; and it was that he had to keep this from the Hokage. Harry had told him about this before he was returned to the real world; the wizard had requested him to keep his existence a complete and total secret from the old man. Iruka had hesitated with his decision, but after a while, he decided to keep his mouth shut. After he had made his choice, the wizard gave him one last chance to turn down the request and even offered to have his memories of the entire incident erased if he couldn't handle it. The wizard realized that he had asked a lot from the chunin with keeping their secret, knowing that Iruka looked up to the old man like a grandfather after his real parents died. But Iruka still insisted on his decision, because he did not want to forget about what happened no matter what, and he was more than willing to keep the secret for both his brothers, old and new.

It would take some time for Iruka to adjust to all the magic and chaos that was to come with this new secret life, but he was certain that he would pull through fine. He still had to take all of the new information in with some sleep, but at this point sleep almost seemed impossible as his mind continued to swim. The chunin looked back at little Naruto and watched him as he slept. He didn't know what hit him in the next several moments but he soon felt more tired as he watched his otōto. He assumed it must have been another one of his magical gifts or something when he slumped down onto his pillow and collapsed into a deep sleep.

Naruto smiled when he heard his big brother slump against his own pillow and snuggled close to his arm as a source of warmth. The child smiled underneath his sheets and lowered his hand after Iruka fell under the influence of the spell he had placed on him. He didn't want to use it on him, but the man needed to sleep or he would act like a zombie. He looked up to his older sibling and watched as a small smile stretched upon his face as he dreamed. Naruto smiled as well and soon fell back asleep under the influence of the same charm he used earlier.

* * *

><p>To Be Continued...<p>

* * *

><p><strong>There we have it! That's how Iruka and Harry meet each other! It took such a while to perfect, but I sure hope I pleased everyone that anticipated this! But this doesn't mean that this is the end of Book 2. <strong>**There will be one more chapter where Iruka adjusts to Naruto's magical tendencies, the two of them will then work together on a prank, a wand will be created, and then there will be some fireworks. Once all that is done, then I will start with the reconstruction project concerning Book 3, The Chunin Exams. That book will be so much better, I am certain of it.**

**Be sure to read and review, folks! Until next time, laters!**


	18. Partners in Crime

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura

'_Blah_': Naruto's thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

* * *

><p><strong>Here we are! The third part of the Book 2 Finale and end of the second book in the series! Sorry that it took so much time to release this, but school has had me slaved, not to mention the re-write of the Chunin Exams has been so laborious but still fun during free time. So far, the first three chapters are almost done and I will post them one at a time.<strong>

**Azeroth44: Make sure to tell them the plan so far, dude.**

**K: Ok then. Here is what I'll do to it; I will first delete the later chapters and then start to re-post all the chapters, starting with the second chapter. You should be notified through email of the additional chapters, so make sure to check them, or check the fanfic anyway for changes or differences from the original.**

**AZ44: That's makes sense. Go with that.**

**K: That was the plan. I seriously can't wait to finish it. So far, it looks so much better and it's just the first three chapters.**

**AZ44: Yeah, I'm sure it'll be bitchin. Now should we move on to the finale?**

**K: Yes. And I'm pleased that you have done something that involved an explosion or some insane burst of madness.**

**AZ44: Wait for it.**

**K: START THE FINALE! **

* * *

><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the Property of Masashi Kishimoto**

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling and Warner Bros.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 18: Partners in Crime<p>

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><p>{{<em>All I Believe In by The Magic Numbers &amp; Amadou &amp; Mariam<em>}}

About two weeks later after the incident in the woods, Naruto was sitting at the kitchen table in Iruka's apartment, writing down on a small stack of inked white sheets. He seemed to have taken some sort of intelligence test, the freshest one from the Ninja Academy. It would seem that ever since Iruka found out that Naruto had hidden his intelligence under a mask, he wanted to find out where he would have ranked in his class had he not been advised to hold back. So he must have pressured him into taking the test for some harmless fun, so long as he promised that the records would either be well hidden or burned to cinders and ashes.

Iruka was sitting down at the seat next to Naruto while he stared at the pocket watch he inherited from his father until the minute mark reached the end of the time limit. Naruto scribbled down the last of his answers before his time had run out and his older brother clicked the button and ended the session.

"Time," he announced, "Let's see the score."

The chunin took a minute to examine the papers and checked his answer sheet twice to make sure he didn't miss marks. Naruto watched in anticipation as Iruka took a red pen and marked the incorrect answers and did the math in his head once he had doubled-checked the answers. He then took a red pen and wrote down the percentage at the top of the front cover and circled it out of habit. Naruto tried to catch his score but the angle made it difficult, not to mention his terrible vision prevented him from seeing the percentage mark from a distance, even if it was in solid red ink.

"So… Where would I have ranked in the class?" he asked.

Iruka raised his brow and almost dropped his pen once he wrote down the grade and placed the test back onto the table, "Whoa… Five more points and you would have been in second place right behind Sasuke Uchiha. That's incredible, Naruto! Well done!"

"I would have?" he asked as he sweatdropped and his older brother ruffled his blonde hair with a smile, "Isn't that almost weird to know that? It's almost alien. I would have been an above average student…"

The chunin then let out a breath and looked to his small blonde brother with a beckoning expression, "Listen, Naruto… It doesn't have to be like this all the time. It never had to be. You don't have to hide under an idiot's mask forever. With these rumors around town about the Tazuna mission, I think it's about time the real Naruto Uzumaki came out of his shell and shined."

"I suppose… Nii-san agrees a little bit," the blonde shinobi answered with a smile and then a frown, "But I think I should wait a little bit more to be on the safe side. I mean, I can't come out and show the world what I can do all the sudden. It could still raise some questions this soon in. Besides, what would Kakashi-sensei and the others think? How could I tell them about what I can do and how smart I am? When the time is right, then I'll know when to come out. It'll be when it matters the most or when I feel it's best. A time when I'm sure I can handle it and all the friends I have won't be bothered about it… But I don't expect that time to come around the corner, and that sucks."

Iruka shrugged and said in a sarcastic or rather humorous tone, "Unless Kakashi-sensei decides to be insane and enters Team 7 into the Chunin Exams this season. Heh! That would be a laugh!"

* * *

><p>{{<em>Shooting the Moon by OK Go<em>}}

Later on in the week, the alarm clock in Iruka Umino's bedroom blasted loud and obnoxious music at around seven o'clock in the morning. The sound forced him to wake up as he reached out his hand through the covers of his bed and slammed his fist onto the button to turn if off. The tan-skinned chunin looked over at his calendar and observed the date he had circled and smiled as he thought about work. Most teachers would dread the idea of returning to school for the new term and so would someone like Iruka. But it wasn't the start of the new semester for at least another month. He was excited because earlier in the week, he finished his résumé to become the new head instructor and turned it in at the main offices at the Administration Building. Iruka was certain that he would have the position and was ecstatic to shake someone's hand and make it official. But he had to be on time, so he slipped out of bed and shook his little brother in the foldout bed beside him, since Naruto still had to set out in search for his wand-related necessities.

"Mmmm…" he moaned as his older brother shook him awake.

Soon, Iruka stormed into his closet, selected the first fresh uniform he could reach, and rushed into the bathroom while Naruto headed towards the kitchen with a sunken face. As soon as Iruka had taken his shower, the blonde shinobi that lived with him had made them both a breakfast that consisted of toast, jams, butter, juice, cooked ham, and eggs. The tan-skinned chunin smiled at his blonde little brother but soon blanched as he saw him levitate the frying pan with his magical powers. Naruto buttered his toaster while he cooked the bacon at the same time, which worried Iruka when he watched him flick his wrist and caused the hot meat to soar high into the air and then land on the plates behind him. The blonde shinobi could have burned his arm or even his face, as he seemed oblivious to the white-hot grease that splattered when he flicked his wrist and used a nonverbal Banishing Charm. Iruka soon relaxed as Naruto lowered the pan and turned off the stove with a wave of his hand as he showed off his remarkable magical talents.

"Thanks, Naruto," he smiled as he stormed into his breakfast, "This looks nice!"

The little blonde wizard looked interested and more awake as he asked, "You're in a rush. Where's the fire?"

"The Ninja Academy," he answered with enthusiasm, "Ever since Mizuki was fired as the head instructor and executed for treason, his previous position has been available to take on for all experienced teachers. For a couple months, I wrote this incredible résumé and turned it in last week. With how much I wrote and with the reputation I earned in the time I've been there at the school, there's a fat chance I can have it. Sure, I'll have a lot more responsibilities, but I'll have an office and some more free time to waste."

Naruto answered him with, "That's sounds brilliant! I hope it turns out well! You're bound to get the job!"

Iruka then checked the clock over the stove and then stuffed the rest of his breakfast into his mouth and swallowed all his juice. He then gathered his satchel once he realized he didn't have much time to waste. Iruka then stormed out of the apartment, with Naruto watching him at the door as he called out to him.

The blonde preteen shouted, "Knock them dead, mate!"

"Will do!" the chunin waved.

Naruto listened to his other older brother for a moment and shouted, "Nii-san shouted good luck!"

"He did?" asked Iruka as he heard him.

The blonde wizard then finished with a loud shout, "Yeah! But I'm not an owl! So, don't expect me to start sending messages now!"

As the chunin vanished down the road and chuckled, Naruto smiled as he turned back into the apartment. But not before he noticed one of the neighbors stare at him when he mentioned the word owls and seemed lost about it. While none of the neighbors had trouble with Naruto while he lived in the estate, it didn't mean that none of them found him to be a bit weird or eccentric to the maximum level, as did most of the citizens in town, mean or nice. The civilian man that lived next door to the two brothers stared at the blonde child for a brief moment, to which Naruto looked back at him and rationalized his earlier statement about owls and went back inside to clean the kitchen.

"Owls," he stated in a matter-of-fact attitude, "Those little beauties are better messengers than hawks. It's true. Ask around."

* * *

><p>Several hours later after Naruto had scouted the woods and made corrections to the transmutation circles he made for his wand creation, he returned home to Iruka's house and decided to make some homemade tea for them both and celebrate Iruka's new job once he was home. While the water warmed inside the kettle, he heard the front door open and saw his older brother return home but was shocked to see a dismal look on his face. He looked like he was in a foul mood as it was made clear when Iruka threw his satchel into the couch and fell into a seat and covered his face with his hands as he sat back and moaned like he had a massive headache. Naruto walked out of the kitchen area and looked concerned for his older brother.<p>

"Iruka-aniki? What's the matter?" he asked.

The chunin hesitated while it looked like he was about to burst with rage while he tried to collect his emotions and said with a bitter voice, "That unbelievable son of bitch. You won't believe this, Naruto. But I'm not the head instructor…"

"What," the blonde shinobi outraged for his older brother, "But you said you turned in that résumé! Did someone else take it? What in the world happened?"

Iruka crossed his arms and he stated with a bitter frown, "Daikoku Funeno happened."

* * *

><p>{{<em>After the Chase + Donna's Theme by Murray Gold &amp; BBC National Orchestra of Wales<em>}}

Two hours earlier, when Iruka made it to the school, he rushed into the main offices where most of the teachers worked outside their classroom or decided to take their breaks. It was here that he had to wait until the teachers that could have turned in their résumés arrived as well as a representative from Sarutobi's office that would confirm who had earned the position. Iruka sat down in his normal desk, eager to hear that he would not need to sit it in while he had a new office to hide out in. Still, he took some time and twiddled his thumbs until he heard someone come in. He looked over his shoulder and raised his brow when he noticed an unfamiliar face of a fellow chunin arrive.

He was small man in stature, a little bit shorter than Iruka but a little bit taller than Naruto. He wore the standard chunin-level shinobi uniform and headband, he carried a set of glasses that he had clipped to the collar of his vest, and wore his short black hair that looked like it was wanted to reach the heavens. His head was a little bit square in shape with his broad face and innocent beetle-black eyes. The man stumbled into the office and looked over at the other chunin and seemed unsure or lost like he was an innocent child in search of his mother.

"Hello, sir," he said in a formal tone, "I'm a new teacher here. I was transferred from the Mission Assignment Desk after I was called off from missions for a while. The Hokage said it earns more cash, so he let me in without all the experience that's needed here and there and whatnot, I suppose. What a wonderful man, that Hiruzen Sarutobi."

Iruka stood from his seat and shook hands with the fresh meat, "He did tell me someone new would be in this week. You must be Hikaru Furi. Hi, I'm Iruka Umino. I'm a teacher here as well. I've been here for about twelve or so terms."

"Hokage-sama has told me a lot about an Iruka Umino," he said, as he still seemed a little nervous but still remained respectful, "You're one of the best teachers to work here in over a decade."

Iruka smiled and patted his shoulder and checked his watch for the time and assumed he had enough time on his hands, "Well, thanks. I guess I should show you around, then."

The two chunin walked around the office and the areas around the same level for a little bit, where Iruka showed the new teacher the offices and where his new station in the main office was located. But as soon as the two were about to walk around the school for a little tour, another shinobi entered the main office, which was followed with Daikoku Funeno. The older chunin had a wide smug smile on his sunken face that made Iruka a little bit irritated and uncomfortable. Ever since the events he witnessed in the Pensieve, Iruka's hatred for the older man had intensified and his tolerance for him and his obscene behaviors shortened. The first shinobi that entered the room (who was Sarutobi's office representative) beckoned to Iruka while Daikoku continued to smile, like he was the happiest man in the world.

"Umino-san," the man called over, "Please, come over here. We need to talk."

The chunin dismissed Hikaru to check his desk in the office, which was right next to the fire exit door and staircase. As soon as the new teacher was distracted, Iruka turned to the representative and wondered what made Daikoku act so cheerful. The representative from Sarutobi's office cleared his throat while Iruka made sure he was clear and respectful when he asked about the position as the headmaster.

"Morning, sir," he said in a calm and clear voice with a subtle hint that he felt he had the desk, "I take it that the head instructor has been selected?"

"Yes, Umino-san. It's been decided," the representative answered as the tan-skinned chunin smiled in excitement, "that the head instructor will be Daikoku Funeno."

In that one moment, Iruka felt like all the blood inside his head and torso was drained down into his feet while the world around him turned cold and dark. He almost felt like he had been deflated while he continued to maintain his posture, but that didn't stop his smile from turning into a subtle frown while Daikoku continued to smirk as he watched the better chunin looked lost for words. He couldn't take it in at the moment, so his face was frozen in an emotionless mask as he turned to the man from Sarutobi's office and voiced his confusion.

"He's the head instructor now?" he asked as he pointed at the obscene shinobi, "What about me? What about the résumé I handed in a while back?"

Sarutobi's representative answered him, "We never received one. It would seem that no one else was interested in the position except for Funeno-san. That would be the reason no one else is here."

"But I thought more than ten instructors and various chunin that filed for the job and turned in their résumés," the chunin told him, "I know, for a fact, that I was one of those instructors. How is it possible that Daikoku has it and no one else was interested?"

"I believe I'm the boss now," the older and much fatter chunin smiled as he watched Iruka look more and more confused and outraged, "And it's Funeno-san from now on, Umino."

The representative then told the healthier chunin as he decided to leave, "There were no other résumés, Iruka-sensei. I should know, I run those offices and all the files to do with this school. Daikoku is the head instructor now. Get used to it."

With that said, the man stormed out of the offices while Daikoku remained where he stood. Iruka watched as the man left him and his new boss behind, still unable to believe that he wasn't promoted. Once the representative was outside the school and out of earshot, Daikoku almost danced beside the other chunin and smiled at him in an almost evil or diabolical nature.

"Brilliant résumé, Umino," he smiled as he started to leave as well, "It was so creative. I sure as hell needed it."

Iruka stared at the man and he realized then and there that he must have tampered with the applications. He had told him the truth right there. The tan-skinned chunin watched as Daikoku continued to waltz as he left him and Hikaru behind so that he could move into his new and undeserved office. Iruka then clenched his teeth so hard but it didn't show, as he remained tight-lipped until the miserable bastard was out of the offices in that same obnoxious dance. Soon, as Hikaru continued to warm inside his new chair, Iruka's face turned as red as a tomato and he bared his teeth so much that he almost snarled like a wild animal. Steam could have billowed out of his nostrils like a bull as he balled his hands into fists and took in a deep breath so that he could roar out into the heavens.

"I DON'T-BELIEVE THIS!" he roared as he kicked his old chair towards the exit.

The chunin had slammed the chair so hard at the door that it bounced off and slid towards an oblivious Hikaru. The other chunin had slid his own chair back while he was still on it and the chair Iruka kicked slammed into his and sent Hikaru and his chair back towards the fire exit with the stairs on the other side.

"WHOA!" he shouted.

Iruka shouted, "Oh, SHIT!"

Soon, the small chunin fell off his seat and burst through the door and fell down the stairs. Hikaru screamed and Iruka held his breath in shock at what he had done and stormed towards the exit. He looked down and watched as little Hikaru tumbled down the stairs and shouted all the while. He was bruised and hurt as he rolled and tumbled down to the bottom levels of the old school and vanished into the darkness below. Iruka waited until the screams and shouts ceased and then looked down to see if he could see Hikaru down at the basement where it would seem is where he landed.

"HIKARU!" he shouted down, "You ok, Hikaru? HIKARU!"

The older chunin heard a tearful moan from down in the darkness, "_Iruka-sensei… WHY?_"

* * *

><p>Naruto stared at Iruka and couldn't believe what he had heard. His invisible older brother, who in the mindscape, had listened in as well and he too could not believe it when the chunin had told them both about what that horrid instructor had done. The blonde shinobi clenched the cloth on his pants legs as he imagined the look on Daikoku's fat face when he told his older brother what he had done.<p>

"That's so not fair…" he said in a low voice.

Iruka frowned but then he sat back on the couch and mumbled, "Yeah. But I'll work around it. With a little bit of luck and a strict fast-food diet, Daikoku will die of a heart attack soon and I can do it again. But I'll have to endure at least another two terms in order to write another résumé and make it fresh… But for all I know, someone could sneak back into the main offices and burn that one next time…"

The blonde preteen frowned a little bit more while Iruka tried to relax. Soon, Naruto stood on his feet and looked determined and made a decision for his beloved older sibling.

"No." he stated.

Iruka looked a bit bewildered, "What?"

"I said no," the small shinobi told him, "You deserve more than that, aniki."

"Huh?"

The little blonde shinobi cracked his knuckles and looked towards the front door, as he was about to march towards it, "You know… A little Confundus Charm can fix this. I'll be back in about two hours."

"Naruto, no. Don't do that," his older brother held him back and forced him to sit back down with him.

"But, aniki," the child protested at once as he sat back down, "You deserved that promotion, not that miserable lardarse. He cheated!"

The chunin then told him, "Yeah, I know that. But I don't want to steal back a job that was stolen from me. It wouldn't feel right. Please, let's just calm down and… let's have some tea. I need to calm down here too…"

"It's still not right…" he stated as he looked a little bit deflated and started to tend to the tea he made for them both, "That rancid old lardarse doesn't deserve to be headmaster… He deserves to get kicked in the balls. That's what Daikoku-teme deserves. I did it once and I'll do it again, I swear."

Iruka sat back as Naruto returned with the tea and took some to drink to relax, "I couldn't care less about that human shit-bomb. Excuse me for the swearwords."

The chunin drank some sweetened tea and sighed while his little brother sat down next to him and stared at his own hot tea. He listened to his older brother and took in the swearword he used to describe that horrid chunin and reminisced his time back in school and how he dealt with Daikoku when he caused him to feel worthless or furious as Iruka felt at the moment. Naruto started to have flashbacks of his earlier childhood and remembered the first time he had ever become the class clown and how he threw back Daikoku's hostile treatment towards him. He soon froze as the warm tea he drank caused a fire in his chest to rise with its warmth. He then stared out at the mantle clock he had almost broken months ago and started to smile as he saw a picture of Iruka when he was in school, beside the picture of him while Iruka was his mentor.

"That's it…"

Iruka looked to his little brother and asked, "What now?"

"You said it…" he said as he felt his chest burn with excitement and adrenaline, "We… we shouldn't sit here and drink tea and eat biscuits, while he's out there and celebrates. C'mon! Let's head down to Daikoku's house and do what we did back when we were dumb little kids in school."

The chunin asked his brother, "What's that?"

"You should come with me this time," he shouted with more excitement as he looked over at Iruka's school picture, "We can do it together! Class Clowns United!"

Iruka asked him once more, "What is it?"

"I used to do it back when I first started out as the class clown," the blonde child stated.

The older chunin asked him one more time, "What is it?"

"You wanna vandalize Daikoku's house, Iruka-aniki?" he asked him with a mischievous smile that stretched across his face while his older brother looked a little bit shocked or bemused, "C'mon! Let's do it!"

There was a minute's hesitation out of Iruka as he stared at his little brother and then looked back down at his tea and the cookies Naruto had set beside the kettle on the coffee table. The tan-skinned chunin was silent for several more moments as he stared down at his hands, the tea, and then his little brother. He looked down at the tea one more time and soon looked back at Naruto with a determined look on his face. The blonde shinobi felt another rush as Iruka looked back at him and talked to him in a voice he had never heard from him, but he loved it.

"You know what?" he asked and then answered, "Yes, I would love to do that!

Naruto could have died and went to heaven when he heard that, "You're serious, aniki?"

Iruka stood on his feet and marched over to the closet beside the front door and searched for some small black-colored cloth masks that covered most of the head once worn. He then tosses one of the masks over to Naruto and smirked at him.

"Let's do it, Naruto," he stated in a clear and excited voice, "But we'll need these!"

Naruto looked down at his mask and smiled while his other older brother laughed inside his subconscious, "Oh, man. This'll be a riot."

Harry shouted and laughed, '_**Ladies and gentlemen, Iruka Umino is alive!**_'

* * *

><p>{{<em>Fish Custard by Murray Gold &amp; BBC National Orchestra of Wales<em>}}

Later on in the late afternoon, two dark shadows soared over roofs and headed towards the western end of town. The civilians below them never noticed as a tall man and a small shinobi that wore masks that covered most of their faces. Naruto and Iruka were on the move towards the house of Daikoku Funeno. The tall chunin was in the lead while the child followed him and matched his speed with the aid of his chakra. The two shadows continued to run and soar until Iruka hid in the shadows around the corner of a modest house and Naruto hid in the shadows beside him and recognized the residence.

The duo stood there, hidden in the darkness, and watched as the kitchen inside the house was lit and saw the obese chunin inside with a wide and victorious smile on his face. Naruto and Iruka both narrowed their eyes and stared at the large shinobi as he stuffed frozen food into his microwave oven and almost started to dance inside his kitchen as he kissed what looked like a check from the school. Iruka cracked his knuckles as he clenched the crowbar in his hands. Meanwhile, Naruto observed his former homeroom instructor and seethed at him under the mask he wore and caused some of the lights in the area to flicker a little bit.

"There he is," the small shinobi said, "All warm inside his warm little home. It's a small house, but as a headmaster he can afford a much better home. You can bet that he'll find another one out there once he's been paid for a while… But let's force him to move out a little bit sooner, aniki…"

Iruka touched his shoulder and said, "Let's do this, kiddo."

"He's so oblivious," the smaller shinobi commented as he searched the area for what he needed, "He won't sense it, until its too late."

The chunin checked the floor around them and then the walls until he found the outline of a small door underneath his feet, "Here it is."

He took the crowbar he taken from his home and forced it into the small metal door. Iruka then started to pull with all his raw strength, until the small but ancient door creaked and then burst as Iruka forced the crowbar back and revealed large pipes that lead into Daikoku's current home. He smirked underneath his dark-cloth mask while his little brother smiled under his and shook Iruka's arm and felt the rock-hard muscle that was hidden underneath his dark sleeves.

"Thanks," said the blonde shinobi and commented, "Such muscles."

"Your welcome, bud," the older brother smiled as he flexed his arm, "And thanks."

Naruto checked over the valves and switches and focused his magic into them and had his other older brother check them over for him as he listened to whatever it was that flowed inside, "Here's the valve… Check to make sure we're not seen, ok?"

"We're clear, otōto," said the chunin as he looked over his shoulders and looked back into the house at his new boss, "Do it."

The blonde shinobi turned some knobs and rested his bare hands on the main valve and talked to his older brother in a sinister voice, "Aniki…it's time to spread the word… And that word is," he paused as he placed his hand upon the cold pipe and finished his sentence with, "Vengeance."

'_**Hold on tight, Funeno…**_'

Harry snickered like an evil mastermind as he focused a massive amount of magic into his little blonde vessel and the small shinobi focused it into the main valve. He let it flow and heard a loud noise emanate from inside as he felt the solid concrete beneath him and Iruka rumble. The rumbles continued and flowed towards the feed that went into Daikoku's house. Inside the house, the obese chunin waited for his frozen meal to thaw when he heard the rumble as well. Curious, he followed the source of the noise and it led him into his bathroom. He looked a little bit alarmed when he saw his toilet shake and rumble. Back outside, Naruto held Iruka back in the shadows and shook with anticipation to the results that were to come.

"Wait for it… Wait for it…" he said, '_**Oh lord in heaven, here it comes…**_'

The older shinobi shook as well, "Oh, man… I can hear it… This is almost too much to contain…"

Back inside the house, Daikoku backed off from his toilet and looked more and more alarmed as the toilet shook and the cover over it fell off and shattered on the floor. Back outside the house in the shadows, Naruto and Iruka waited and watched until this loud boom was heard and the window to the bathroom was covered with a dark substance and the two of them heard a loud and miserable scream of sheer horror.

"OH, SWEET MERCIFUL KAMI!"

Naruto and Iruka both smiled and laughed as the bathroom was obscured from view and heard the miserable chunin victim inside scream and shout as he was covered from head to toe with who-knows-what as his bathroom sink was also blown out.

Iruka shouted to the heavens, "WHACK-A-POW!

"DATTEBAYO, BABY!" his little brother shouted.

Soon the duo looked as Daikoku stormed outside his house and started to roll around in his back lawn and search for the hose to be cleaned of whatever it was that he was covered with, all the while the man screamed and shouted as he searched for the hose, "OH MY GOD!"

"C'MON," the blonde shinobi shouted as he and his older brother fled the crime scene, "LET'S BEAT IT!"

Iruka took the lead and led his little brother to Ichiraku Ramen before either of them could smell the stink of their victorious crime.

He smiled under his mask and shouted, "EVASIVE MANUEVERS, OTŌTO!"

* * *

><p>Later on in the week, Iruka had discovered that Daikoku was forced out of his home until his bathroom was fixed and the mess was cleaned. So the man was forced to make his current residence inside this miserable old motel that seemed to reflect him well when the other instructors of the school thought about it. So once was free, Iruka decided take Naruto to celebrate their successful little crime over at Ichiraku Ramen and talk. The duo chuckled and celebrated the latest demise of the worst instructor in Konohagakure no Sato with some delicious ramen noodles and meat to eat.<p>

The two of them ordered a ramen mini-marathon and ate bowl after bowl as the two of them recollected their little mission, but were careful not to mention the details in front of Teuchi. After that, Naruto started to tell him all about the other times he had humiliated Daikoku after that miserable man had humiliated him while he was still in school. All the while, Teuchi smiled as he continued to re-fill their bowls with more ramen and listened to some of the most hilarious stories Naruto told them about his countless tricks and antics with his friends Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi. He told him the tale about this one time where he and Shikamaru covered Daikoku with chalk dust and were both chased around in the halls.

Naruto continued his tale while he laughed and smiled, "And then Shikamaru and I were stuck at a dead end in the hall. We were cornered in seconds, so I looked over and him and then I said-"

"-I knew we should have turned left!" the older chunin finished for him, which caused them both to laugh and Teuchi to chuckle while he listened in and cleaned some surfaces.

"Heh," the old man chuckled, "I swear children can be such little criminals sometimes!"

Soon the two shinobi discussed the events of their endeavor, and commented each other on their flawless teamwork and how it led to the ultimate success. Iruka smiled and laughed more than he had done as an adult than he did back when he was still a kid. Teuchi noticed how much more alive he was and smiled as he continued on with his duties with the ramen and the counters while his daughter was in the back and checked their stock. Iruka leaned down towards the counter and smiled as he and Naruto let their laughter die down a bit. He smiled over at his little brother while he shoveled the last of his noodles into his mouth.

He then told said with a warm sigh and then he shook a little bit from the thrill of their extreme act of vandalism, "Oh, Naruto, that was unbelievable. I haven't had so much fun since I was twelve. You have no idea how much I wanted to do that… Oh, man. I still can't believe we did it!"

"I know," the blonde child smiled as he finished his ramen, "That was the worst I've ever done to someone as far as tricks and pranks are concerned… But what's the deal with those masks we wore?"

Iruka smirked at his little brother and told him, "Oh, I used to use them while I was on stealth missions and had to hide in the shadows."

"Is there a chance one of those missions can be discussed tonight, aniki?" the small blonde shinobi asked with excitement.

But the chunin laughed, "Heh! That's another tale for another time, kiddo."

* * *

><p>Once the mood had settled down a little bit, Naruto looked out towards the counter and thought more about his ambitions and the transmutation circles he drew in the woods. He had been at work while he rested at Iruka's house and wasted time with him with activities such as the recent crime. The blonde shinobi looked down at his vacant ramen bowl and clicked his fingers as he checked the calendar on the wall and nodded to his invisible older brother. He looked over at Iruka while Teuchi was distracted with the counters and started a more serious conversation.<p>

"Iruka-aniki…" the man looked over at him and he listened, "You remember the Pensieve, right?"

"How can I forget?" the chunin answered him.

Naruto then told him, "Umm… You remember what I was doing in the woods that one time when the three of us sat down and talked?"

"Wait…" he hesitated and then he remembered from the Pensieve, "It was about that wand, right?

Naruto nodded and told him, "Yeah… The transmutation circle I need in order to create it is almost complete… Nii-san and I will do it tomorrow at around dusk…"

"Tomorrow?"

The blonde child answered, "Yeah. We monitored the ANBU for a little bit and found a hole in their patrols patterns where I can use the transmutation circle. This will be the one chance for another month or two where we can make the wand without the risk of attention from the ANBU."

"You two are sure about this?" the chunin asked, "Isn't it a little dangerous?"

Naruto remained frozen for several moments as he was lost in a trance while he conversed with the other wizard inside his head and then he told the concerned chunin, "Nii-san told me it's better we finish this sooner than later. If I had a wand out here in the real world, then I could be so much safer from other shinobi while out on missions. I can be more of an asset to Konoha if I have full access with a wand."

"That sounds reasonable…" hesitated Iruka and then he asked, "But is it safe?

Naruto told him, "I…Um… I suppose so…"

"Well, I want to know now," his older brother stated in a stern voice, "Is it dangerous? Yes or no?"

The blonde wizard was lost in another trance with his ancient companion and then he answered, "Nii-san told me it would be best if you were to meet us out there at the circle tomorrow."

"He did?" the chunin was bemused.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah. He told me it would make you feel better about it if you were there."

"Well…" the tan-skinned chunin hesitated and said, "Alright then… I'll be there tomorrow at dusk…"

The small shinobi then told him, "He also said it's for the best, in case there's trouble in the ritual and I'll need help."

"What kind of trouble?" Iruka asked, as he sounded a little more suspicious.

Naruto tried to work around excuses, but soon told him the truth about the risks, "Well… You know… In case I almost die. Like if a tree falls on me or if I'm burnt or lose consciousness from the intense strain and die with no one to know where I am."

"Well, that makes me feel all warm inside…" the chunin stated in a sarcastic voice.

The blonde shinobi then smiled to reassure the tan chunin, "It comes to show that he cares about us, Iruka-aniki."

The tan-skinned chunin nodded and then froze when he realized what he had blurted out in front of when Teuchi worked around the kitchen over the counter and continued to clean and nod over to him and Naruto. Iruka felt his face flush with blood as he realized that Teuchi could have overheard him as well as Naruto, and not one of them had realized it

He stated, "Naruto."

"Yeah?" he asked.

Iruka told him, "You realize we had an entire conversation about wands, rituals, and Harry's existence in front of Teuchi."

"Oh, I used a Muffliato Charm on him," he said and he checked his ramen bowl for morsels and extra broth, "He couldn't even hear our conversation."

The chunin soon breathed as he relaxed and let the blood flow back down to his torso, "I think I missed that charm in the Pensieve. What does it do?"

"Watch this," the child smiled as he cleared his throat and took a deep breath and then he screamed as loud as he could, "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

Teuchi continued to wash the counter while he touched his ears and then washed his hands with sanitation sheets since he had touched his face and hair when he checked his eardrums for what he assumed was earwax. Iruka had to cover his ears when Naruto shouted and he watched in astonishment as Teuchi acted as if there was never even a shout. He was oblivious as he tended to his kitchen and then looked over the counter to see that Naruto was done with his latest bowl of ramen.

He asked the blonde child, "Another round of ramen, Naruto?"

"Nah, I'm fine," he thanked as he smiled.

He turned to the chunin and asked, "You, Iruka?"

"I'm, uh… I'm full, Teuchi. Thanks," he was lost as he watched Teuchi act normal and not once had he even flinched when the blonde shinobi beside him had screamed, so he was forced to ask the old man, "You heard that loud shout about two seconds ago, right?"

The old man looked a little bit puzzled, "Who shouted?"

"Umm… Never mind," the chunin told him back as he sat in his seat.

Naruto told him as he showed his hand, "Private conversation enabler. To him, all he can hear from us is this buzz in his ears. Notice how he touched his eardrums like that? See, it muffles out our conversation no matter how loud we are, and to him he thinks he has earwax."

"Whoa…" he nodded and smiled, as he felt awed with his little brother once more, "Shinobi all over the world would kill to be able to use that on missions."

Naruto then smiled at him, "Imagine what shinobi would do to have a wand?"

* * *

><p>{{<em>Beneath Stonehenge + The Pandorica by Murray Gold &amp; BBC National Orchestra of Wales<em>}}

At around dusk, Iruka Umino was dressed in some normal leisure clothes instead of his chunin uniform. Just some jeans and a black t-shirt that showed the world that he had muscles underneath his clothes. The humble chunin then checked his clock in the kitchen and decided to leave his home and set out to the woods. He tried to act casual as he walked down the street and snuck into the same woods where he followed Naruto and remembered where he had created the circle and followed the hidden trail that would take him to it. He turned around corners and followed the marks on the trees until he reached the sizable field that was surrounded with trees. He turned left and right to see a head of blonde hair and the flash of a metallic headband, but there was no one around. Once he was sure that this was where he said he would meet him, he called out.

"Naruto," he reached out one more time, "Naruto!"

He heard a small rustle and turned to see his little brother at last, "Over here, aniki!"

The blonde child was not in his usual tracksuit or headband, and instead wore a normal t-shirt, some shorts for the warm summer weather, but still had his weapons pouch and a small kunai with him for the circles. He waved over at the tan-skinned chunin and motioned toward the vacant field.

"So this is it?" he asked as he walked over to him.

The child nodded as he motioned him towards the circles, "Yeah! This is it. It took me a while, but it's done. Make sure not to stand too close to the outer circle. One touch could activate it on accident."

Iruka looked over at the field one more time and noticed the circle at once as well as the massive severed branch located in the center circle of what could be assumed was at least over one hundred circles and runes. It looked like Naruto's charms that he had surrounded the circles with worked, as Iruka never would have known it was there had Naruto not shown it to him. He nodded, and then looked over to Naruto as he knelt down and sat on a tree stump.

"Ok, then…" he said and then asked, "So what do we have to do?"

Naruto answered him, "Nii-san told me to handle all the work with the ritual."

"So where does that leave me?" he asked.

The small blonde shinobi told him as he showed him the lines, "You should stick around here where it's safe outside the transmutation circle. There shouldn't be trouble. But just in case there is, make sure we're out of here as soon as possible but don't tread over the lines here while the transmutation is still active, this is a hot-zone from here inwards. Nii-san said there would be this light that'll radiate out of the lines when it's hot and active. But once it's faded back into normal dirt, it'll be safe to cross and the circles will be erased from existance."

"Got it," answered and then he asked while he was a little bored, "So, want to show me around a little bit?"

Naruto shrugged and then showed him the materials and the circles he had made, "I suppose there's enough time… that branch over there in the center is what the wand will be made from. It took me forever to find it… Over there's the central circle and that's the core of the transmutation… But the area between that one and the next one outside it is where I'll be able to control the ritual with Nii-san… There's not much else to it than that. All this other stuff with the Latin and the runes is total nonsense to me. I sucked at Ancient Runes class…"

"I remember a phoenix feather mentioned in the Pensieve," the chunin commented as he looked around a little, "Where's that red feather from earlier?

Naruto reached into his pocket and showed him the feather he had obtained while on the beach in the Land of Waves. The chunin stared at the scarlet feather in awe and made a humorous cartoon-like face that showed his fascination towards the magical artifact. It was a trait he inherited but had decided to hide until Harry told him otherwise and he let it out more often as he should.

The blonde preteen showed him, "Here it is. It's still warm to the touch."

"It looks nice," he said.

Naruto smiled at his older brother and offered, "Go on. Touch it."

The chunin reached out and pressed the feather between his fingers and could feel the warm hidden inside, like there was a small fire inside. Still fascinated with the feather, he removed his hand from it and let Naruto have it back for his wand.

"Whoa…" he said, "That's so weird…"

Naruto smiled once more, "But it's so cool, huh?"

"Yeah, a little bit," the chunin told him as he looked down at his watch and checked the time, "Ok. How much time is there left?"

The blonde shinobi checked with his internal clock and answered, "At least a half-hour until the ANBU come close, I think."

"Then there's no time to waste," the tan-skinned shinobi added, "Where should I park it?"

Naruto motioned to the area behind the tree stump, "Over there is fine… But… You're sure about this, because we can hold if off for another month or two."

"It would be better to do it sooner than later," the chunin insisted as he sensed his adopted brother didn't want to force him into these activities, but he wanted to assist him, even if it was a small role, "Let's finish this now while there's still time, Naruto."

The blonde child and his unseen companion both nodded to the chunin. Iruka leaned close to the tree truck while Naruto turned toward the transmutation circle and held the scarlet feather in his hands. He marched towards the entrance to the circle, hesitated, took a breather, and then marched onto the first of countless circle he had carved into the earth.

{{_Ship of Fools by Yuki Kaijura_}}

From the moment he set his foot down on the transmutation circle, the rest of the formula started to come to life with a bright bluish-white light that radiated with warmth. It stretched out to the rest of the circles and then illuminated the Latin words inscribed into the earth. Naruto continued to march towards the center circle and threw the feather out and watched as it was attracted to the branch he had severed over a week ago. The light that radiated out from the circles then started to create sparks of lightning. At first it looked a lot like static, but then the lightning turned more violent and out-of-control and shot out solid white bolts at random.

Iruka was nervous to the max while Naruto stood at the epicenter of the storm and the wind started to swirl around him and then the circles. He watched as the lightning turned wild but was soon directed towards the branch and struck the feather. The branch started to transform as more and more lighting struck it over and over again. The wooden mass was soon turned into a mass of bluish light and Naruto watched as the phoenix feather was absorbed into the bluish mass and fussed in as the formula was designed to do. Once the feather had been absorbed there was a flash of light and a loud boom that almost caused Iruka to tumble backward. The wind blew harder and harder, which forced the chunin to shield his face with his arms crossed.

The chunin shouted, "NARUTO! _YOU ALRIGHT?_"

"I'm ok! It's fine in here! It's a little bit bright, but I think I can deal with it!" he heard him comment as he watched the new mass was levitated into the air.

Iruka roared so that Naruto could hear him over the wind, "IT SURE DOES LOOK LIKE IT!"

"Now watch out for those circles, aniki," he shouted so that he could be heard over the wind as the storm increased with violence, "IT'S ABOUT TO GET A LITTLE BIT ROUGH IN HERE!"

The blonde shinobi and his two older brothers watched as the mass above Naruto hovered and the lightning continued to strike it over and over, which caused more and more solid bolts to shoot out from the earth and strike the mass. Naruto held his hands above his head and let the sorcerer inside his head take control over the massive and tilt it, so that the lightning would wear it down until it started to look more and more like a wand. Each time the lightning struck the mass, it lost some of its size and started to become more and more thin. Each second since it was levitated, another bolt would strike the white mass and wear it down some more. Naruto tried to hold his arms above his head and control the mass, but then the bolts zoomed too close to him and almost burned him a little bit as the bolts whizzed close to his arms and ears. He tried to remain levelheaded and make it through to the end, but then one bolt struck into Naruto's side and sent a thousand volts into him.

The blonde wizard screamed when he was hit with the bolt and almost lost consciousness, "DAAAAAHHHHH!

"NARUTO!" he heard Iruka scream from back outside the circle.

But the small shinobi continued to hold his arms above him and stand while he insisted, "I'M FINE! JUST STAY BACK, ANIKI! DON'T TOUCH THE CIRCLE NO MATTER WHAT!"

{{_Words Win Wars by Murray Gold & BBC National Orchestra of Wales_}}

The blonde shinobi tried his best to stand and held his arms high as he and his invisible brother tried to control the mass and watched as more and more was shaved from it. Within seconds and over one hundred individual bolts, the mass now resembled a wand with a handle carved into it. For one second, Naruto could have sworn that the wand looked like it had elder berries carved into the handle and shaft and almost resembled a wand he was familiar with. But then he blinked and the elder berries on the mass were shaved clean and left the mass with a battered but smooth design to it. Naruto smiled at the mass when he saw it as his wand from the mindscape. He held his arms towards it and he even almost outstretched his hand as if he could reach for it. But then the storm continued to become more and more violent, to the point where Iruka was almost forced into the tree line. He tried to shout for Naruto and have him cancel the transmutation when more bolts shot out from the circles and started to burn the trees around them and almost shock him. The blonde shinobi heard him, and then tried to accelerate the transformation and end the violent storm he had been warned could form.

'_**We're almost done, Naruto! Give me a little bit more time and it's done!**_'

Outside the woods and into the village, the civilians and shinobi turned and noticed as random bolts shot down from the clouds and a small wind breezed into the town. Unseen dark clouds started to form above the ritual while it looked like an unanticipated thunderstorm was about to hit Konoha.

Not a lot of shinobi or civilians even noticed there was a storm out there until it started to become a little bit more violent. But not a lot of civilians or shinobi believed it was much more than a small thunderstorm. Some notable civilians and shinobi in town feel a little bit off to those that noticed it. Kakashi Hatake was out to attend to some errands when he noticed the storm, but believed it was a little bit curious. Meanwhile Hiruzen Sarutobi sensed the storm and turned around to the window in his office and stared at the storm with some interest. At the same time Sasuke Uchiha was at home in his room, he looked out and also noticed the storm and felt a shiver run down his back as he stared at it. Sakura Haruno was at home as well, out to deliver some books to her mother and father when she too noticed the storm, but did not want to be near it, as it almost scared her to an instinctual level.

Back inside the woods, Iruka tried to shield his face from the dirt and retreated behind the tree trunk he had rested on as bolts started to shoot out at random. Naruto noticed this and tried to finish the wand as soon as he could. The blonde wizard looked down towards the seal where he had to rest his hand to cancel the ritual. Naruto checked the wand one more time and then let his arms fall to his sides when he heard his mentor shout to him.

'_**IT'S DONE! Hit the seal to cancel the ritual! IT'S DONE, NARUTO! MAKE IT STOP!**_'

Naruto reached down into the storm to touch the seal, but then he flinched when another hundred volts shocked his hand.

"OWW!"

He shouted and then he turned to Iruka and saw how violent the storm was now. Naruto reeled his arm back and then thrust his hand onto the seal to cancel the transmutation, before the storm could even touch his hometown. With that one thrust, over one hundred thousand volts were forced into Naruto and he screamed out until the wind died down and the storm was over and the volts had vanished out of thin air.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The blonde wizard fell down into the earth as the lights from the circles had faded back into normal dirt and erased the circles and the Latin from existence to hide their actions. He had lost consciousness and at the same time, the dark clouds above him had vanished. The civilians and the shinobi that had noticed the storm soon turned their heads from the scene and went about their business, like there was never even a storm to be concerned about. Back inside the woods, Iruka dashed over to his little brother and saw that he was burned from the electrocution he suffered from. He tried to shake him a little and checked to make sure he was still alive.

"Naruto! Naruto! NARUTO! WAKE UP! NARUTO!"

The chunin looked him over and discovered that he couldn't breath. He started to use CPR, but as soon as he had forced the air out of him, the child coughed and was able to breathe once more, but he was so weak. Iruka deduced at once that he would need a doctor and hulled him onto his back. But then he noticed the thin wooden stick that rested on the earth. He stared at it for a moment and reached into his vest for some tissues and handled the stick like it was on fire and had it tucked into his weapons pouch. Once the creation was secure and Naruto was safe on his back with his arms over his shoulders, he tried to coax the child as he stormed back to where he came.

He told the unconscious shinobi on his back, "It's ok, Naruto, we're out of here! Hold on! You'll be all right! You'll be all right!"

Once Iruka had burst out from the woods and back to civilization, he ran as fast as he could towards downtown to find a doctor. While he ran as fast as he could towards the north, he noticed a silver-haired someone that had come out from a store. Kakashi had come out with a large brown bag full of food and other necessities. Iruka stormed towards the man, as he was certain the man would be able to assist them.

He shouted out loud as he landed close to him, "KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

"Iruka-sensei," he asked and then he looked down to see his unconscious student in the chunin's arms, all blackened and burned and he rushed over to the chunin and left his groceries abandoned on the floor, "NARUTO! _What the hell has happened to him?_"

The chunin told him as fast as he could, "There was this weird storm! I was about to pick him up from one of the training grounds for ramen! He was about to run over to me when he saw me arrive and mention ramen and then he was struck with lightning! I saw it!"

Kakashi checked over Naruto and then felt his pulse. It was slow and weak but he was still with them. The child moaned as Kakashi reached out and removed the child from his older brother and carried him from there on out.

"He needs a hospital," he stated as he carried the child, "I'll take him there. I'm faster."

When Iruka was about to nod to the older shinobi, Kakashi had focused a massive amount of his chakra into his feet and zoomed so fast down the street, he almost looked inhuman or even like a cartoon character as he soared towards the sanatorium and left a trail of dust behind him. Iruka stared at the shinobi that had vanished with his hair blown back from the air that was blasted in his face.

He commented, "Whoa… that is one fast shinobi…" and then he followed, "Oh! Hold on! WAIT UP, KAKASHI!"

* * *

><p>Naruto was unconscious for a little bit more than a day and a half and was unable to return to the mindscape. It must have been some time in the afternoon when he started to awaken from his forced slumber. He soon concluded that he was on a bed or a cot, so Naruto assumed he must have been hurt bad once he was sure he was inside a hospital bedroom. While Naruto rested and let his injuries heal as fast as ever, he could have sworn that he could hear voices around him, two voices. Both of them were rather familiar and sounded concerned or worried, once he had heard words that sounded a lot like, 'died or killed'.<p>

Once he started to come to, the voices were so much clearer and he knew one of them was from Iruka. It took some time, but once he saw a sliver of silver hair and a dark facial-mask, he assumed the second voice was his sensei.

"_Tell me, Iruka-sensei… What is it… that caused this?_" he heard his sensei ask in a bullet-time voice.

All that the blonde child could hear was also in bullet-time, "_I dunno… there was this random storm… it came… out of nowhere… Naruto was struck… I ran as fast as I could he… Ran into you..._"

Kakashi and Iruka seemed to have a conversation that centered on the storm that had struck the woods at random. It almost sounded like Kakashi wanted to know what Iruka had seen while he was out there. He must have been curious about the sudden storm and asked Iruka if someone else was out there and tried to use a jutsu that created lightning, as he was a little bit worried about a shinobi from Kumo that could have attacked, but Iruka ruled it out as he told him was certain no one was around and that it was a normal, but random natural thunderstorm. Kakashi nodded his head and trusted Iruka as he looked over at Naruto and must have worried about him. Meanwhile, the blonde child started to stir a little bit, which earned both the other two shinobi their attention. Naruto started to open his eyes and moan as he felt the aches from his healed burns and over-stimulated muscles when he was electrocuted. Kakashi and Iruka both looked over at the child and watched as he started to awaken.

"Uhh…" the blonde shinobi moaned as he saw the two adults, "What the hell was that?"

Kakashi answered him with a smile, "That was about a hundred thousand volts, Naruto. It's a miracle for someone to have a shock like that and live to talk about it… You feel ok?"

"Ohhh…" was all he could tell him, "Kill me now…"

Once he was certain his blonde student was still out of it, the masked shinobi turned to the chunin and told him, "The doctors said earlier that he would be fine. Just needs some rest and he'll be back on his feet tomorrow in the afternoon at the latest."

"That's good to hear," sighed the tan-skinned chunin.

Kakashi nodded to the man and waved to him and his student, "Well, I better be off then."

"So soon?" the chunin asked.

Kakashi nodded, "Yeah, I need to see some idiotic friend named Gai tomorrow for some race he wanted me to be in. I'll be back tomorrow to see Naruto."

"Oh, ok," he answered back as the shinobi turned to leave, "Later, Kakashi-sensei."

The masked shinobi nodded to his student and said, "Get well soon, Naruto."

Once the masked sensei closed the door and was downstairs, the blonde child looked over to his concerned older brother and looked a lot more remorseful as the memories of the creation of his wand came back to him. All those bolts and all that wind in his ears must have been awful to be around, as the experience terrified him since he was there in the middle of it. But Naruto was more concerned that the storm had become massive and could have hurt Iruka or someone else out there had it increased in size and reached civilization.

"Oh man…" he started, "Gomenasai, aniki, I tried to cancel it sooner…"

Iruka shook his head and smiled, "No worries, since no one else was hurt…"

"But still…" the child insisted, "You could have been killed. I saw the bolts… Nii-san and I didn't think it would turn out so violent. He knew there would be a small storm, but it was so much more volatile, he said… Well, I checked with him and he has no idea how that storm turned out so violent… Those bolts should have been inside the circle; none of them should have been able to strike outside the outer protective circles… There were at least ten of them made so that the energies would be contained… Gomenasai, Iruka-aniki…"

Still, the chunin let it slide and smiled, "Ah, whatever… But at least we learned a little lesson."

"What's that?" the child asked.

Iruka pointed at his little brother's forehead and told him, "It looks like this scar here can conduct electricity."

"Oh, shut it," the blonde shinobi fumed while he still smiled a little.

The caramel-skinned chunin then asked, "Still, it was worth it in the end, huh?"

"Hmm," the child mused and then it came to him, "Oh… Where is the-"

{{_Where I Come From by Passion Pit _or_ Take a Walk by Passion Pit_}}

Iruka reached into his vest with a white cloth in his hand and withdrew a thin stick made of wood and showed it to Naruto. The blonde child was stunned and his heart raced as he saw his finished wand and took in its details. It was about fourteen inches in length, a dark wooden color, had a rather battered texture, but it's smoothness and the thick handle on it made it look fit for a fantastic sorcerer to wield, almost like it was an ancient or scared sword trusted to him from an ancestor or a master. Naruto almost couldn't talk as Iruka offered it to him and smiled as he witnessed the sheer happiness on his little one's face. The chunin still offered it to him and watched, as he looked all the more amazed as the stick shined with freshness.

He told him as he offered, "Here we are… Take it…"

Naruto stretched out his hand and touched the thin wooden rod and felt this sudden but familiar warmth in his hand and fingers. He waved it a little bit and at once there was a sudden draft of warm wind as the lights above the two shinobi increased in brightness as it shined down on Naruto as the wind caused his hair to rise and then fall back down as he lowered his wand and the lights above him died down to a reasonable brightness. Iruka was a little bit bemused as his little brother caused the environment around him to be altered and then restored. But he took it well as he was now used to magic and took it, as a humorous man should.

He commented in a humorous tone, "That was… ominous."

"Whoa…" the child answered back as he stared down at his wand and took in the fact that he now had a real one to use and he was still inside the real world, "This is so cool! It feels the same as the one I have in the mindscape! This is too cool! Now it's wands, but tomorrow I'll start on broomsticks!"

"I think we should hold back on the inventions for a little while, Naruto-otōto," the tall and tan chunin sweatdropped a little bit and lowered Naruto's arm when he started to raise his wand above his head as he exclaimed his ambitions out loud, "This world isn't prepared for aerial sports, at least not now…"

Naruto nodded but soon looked back at his wand with uncontrollable excitement, "I have to test it a little bit… I'll use a small harmless charm…"

The blonde child looked around the room in search for an excuse to use his magic now that he had full access to his abilities without the constant strain. He looked around in vain, until he saw a glass of water at the bedside table, which was out of his arm reach. He smiled and gripped his wand as he aimed at the glass.

He annunciated with a clear voice, "_Accio water!_"

Naruto flicked his wand as he held his other hand out to catch the glass. But it did not soar towards him, as he wanted while he was too excited. Instead the glass had toppled and the water inside flew out and dowsed his entire torso while Iruka flinched backward to avoid a cold dowse. The blonde shinobi didn't react in time as was covered in cold water. His face turned into an emotionless mask while Iruka tried to resist the sudden urge to laugh as his cheeks turned red and a snort echoed out from his nose. Naruto crossed his arms and tried his best not to burst with frustration while he listened to both of his older brothers as the two of them mocked him, albeit it was all out of fun, since no one else was around to see him look foolish.

The small blonde shinobi mumbled, "Shut it."

"Nice aim," he commented.

Naruto insisted with force, "It doesn't count as the first time."

"I dunno. It looks to me like it counts," the chunin smiled as he commented.

His little blonde sibling then insisted, "It doesn't count. I'm still bedridden, so it doesn't count."

The blonde wizard also listened as his invisible companion laughed and reminded him of the first time he used magic when he turned seventeen and the Trace on him was broken. He had also used the Accio Charm on his glasses but was almost blinded when he missed and his glasses hit his face. Harry then told Naruto to take the shame and crack a smile, but the child was stubborn and insisted that it still didn't count. Iruka continued to laugh and smile and shook his shoulder to get him to crack a smile.

"C'mon, Naruto," he and the other older brother said at the same time, "That was hilarious. You know it."

The blonde child then crossed his arms and said as he accepted the shame, "Oh shut it."

Soon, the two went into conversation while Iruka dried Naruto a little bit and turned on his heating to be rid of the intense cold. The two of them chatted for a little bit until the chunin checked the clock and a nurse entered the room and looked like it was time for him to leave. Iruka stretched out in his seat and clicked his back a little bit as he stood and patted little Naruto on his head and reminded him to hide his wand unless he was alone. The blonde wizard smiled at the chunin as the nurse left and Iruka started to march towards the door as he smiled and looked back over the last insane and wonderful two weeks of his adult life.

"Oh, man this whole week has been almost too much fun…" he smiled as he turned to Naruto and continued to smile, "You're bedridden now, so let's make sure we hold back on the magic for a little bit, otōto?"

The blonde wizard nodded and said, "Ok then, Iruka-aniki… I'll tone it down a little until I'm out of here…"

"Get well soon, Naruto," he told him as he left and laughed, "Hahahaha! What a fantastic two weeks, man!"

* * *

><p>{{<em>Reunion of Friends by John Williams (Chamber of Secrets Finale<em>}}

Once Naruto was released from the hospital sometime later in the week, he didn't want to wait and return home to Iruka or to his old apartment. Instead, he wanted to set out and test his wand in a random field where he would be alone and free to do as much magic as his heart desired without the risk of being caught. It was the best time, because there was another random summer festival in town, so no one would be able to hear him even if he used a Blasting Curse. So once he had his sandals back on and the tracksuit Iruka brought him while he was still bedridden, he set out towards the eastern woods. It took him several hours to find an exclusive field to train in alone, but once he found one that he liked, it was almost dusk and the festival was about to release the usual fireworks marathon. Even still, he locked the fence and marched into the middle of the field. Once he was sure that he was alone, Naruto withdrew his wand for what he wanted to consider his first time and aimed towards the darkened heavens.

He threw his arm out and then shouted, "_Lumos Maxima!_"

A bright ball of light shot out from the tip of his wand and illuminated the entire field around him as it circled above him in an endless circle. Naruto smiled at his use of the charm and was amazed that he had used it with such ease. Before he had his wand in the real world, he had to concentrate so much and there was a strain on his arm whenever he used magic, but now it was gone. He had felt the magic shot out like it was a normal function like he had flexed a muscle. Naruto felt so free as he took his beloved instrument and waved it around a little bit. He could feel it as a little bit more magic slid out from the tip and warmed the air around him. Naruto smiled and watched as the illuminated ball above his head continued to hover around the field and show him his environment. Naruto could now see the blackened field around him and stared as the black grass turn into a wondrous shade of emerald, like the field was covered with precious stones. He could have shook with utter excitement as he looked around for objects to test his full abilities on. The blonde shinobi soon found a rock twice his size and then he smirked at it.

He swished and flicked his wand and then announced, "_Wingardium Leviosa!_"

Naruto raised his wand and then the rock was drawn out of the earth and floated wherever the blonde wizard desired. He turned around and made the rock follow the movement of his wand with such remarkable effortlessness. Had he used his old method to levitate stones once, but the rocks fell back to the earth within seconds, because of the strain. But with his wand, he maintained his control over the barren mass and soon cancelled his hold when he thrust his arm forward and threw the rock against another boulder and shattered it into a thousand stones. Naruto laughed and then acted as if he were in the middle of an intense battle with evil ANBU and malicious Death Eaters. He acted like a shinobi as well as a wizard and dodged invisible kunai and curses meant to kill him. Naruto ran around the field and turned towards another boulder and used the first curse he could think to use as he acted like he aimed it at a massive Death Eater the size of a bear.

He shouted out loud as a firework was released above the village, "_Bombarda!_"

As the civilians and shinobi cheered in the streets, the rock Naruto had aimed at exploded as solid chunks and hot dust were blown out. The blonde shinobi felt a rush of adrenaline and aimed at the tree he ran close to and used a much more advanced curse that he was unable to use in the real world until now.

He annunciated as white blast came out of his new wand, "_Incarcerous Tria!_"

Out of the wand came these solid chains made of iron that were soon bound to a tree that could have immobilized a shinobi. Naruto acted like it was a missing-nin and continued to use his wand some more. He looked over at some stones that remained of the boulder he blasted earlier and aimed at the remains.

He flicked his wand and shouted, "_Accio stones!_"

The stones he aimed at were levitated into the air and then soared towards the blonde wizard almost too fast for him to see. He aimed his new wand at the stones out of instinct and focused an incredible amount of magic into his wand without that horrid strain on his arm that had once made it difficult for him to use his wondrous abilities.

Naruto shouted, "_Reducto!_"

A blue blast shot out at the stones and disintegrated them all with extreme force. The small stones were reduced to dust as Naruto lowered his arm and watched as the dust settled and he moved on to another stone that he could summon and then blast as he relished in his new abilities. He aimed his wand at the rock and did it one more time.

He annunciated, "_Accio!_"

As soon as the stone shot out towards his face, Naruto flicked his wand one more time and shouted out, "_Expelliarmus!_"

The blonde wizard/shinobi caused the stone to soar back into the darkness and hit a wild tanuki on the head. Naruto heard the scream of the wild animal and it almost scared him to death. He then took some time to calm down and breathe while he waited for the animal to run back into the woods or attack him. But soon he was certain that the raccoon had run off, so the blonde preteen took some time to breathe as he looked down at his wand and shook with untold excitement. Harry watched as his little brother went nuts and remembered all the times he had taught Naruto a new spell or charm and he would act like he did now and test his skills until he was tuckered out. While he watched the blonde rascal have fun and then calm down a little bit, he wanted to see if he wanted to use one charm he had invented as he heard the fireworks out in the distance. It wouldn't be hard for Naruto to use on his first time, as the child had a remarkable talent for charms. Not to mention, he wanted to see Naruto act more like he did when he was a small child, back when their secret adventures had first started.

'_**Naruto, let's test a new little charm this time.**_'

'_You want to teach me a new charm, Nii-san? Hold on! I'll be inside in a second!_'

'_**You don't have to come into the mindscape this time, Naruto.**_'

'_Well, how do I use it then? What's the incantation?_'

'_**Just listen to me, Little one… Trust me, it will be fantastic…**_'

For several moments, Naruto stood there in the field and willed the ball of light that floated above him to be doused out. For several moments, there was darkness in the field until the blonde preteen learned the new charm and used it almost at once. Naruto swished his wand in the air and created a shower of golden light that was as vibrant as his hair looked in the summer sunshine. He swished it some more and each time he did he created a different vibrant color that filled the field with incredible light. The vibrant colors and lights swirled all around him like the wind as he tested it some more and then shot out a blast towards the heavens and released extreme bursts of colored fire that filled the clouds like the fireworks that blasted back inside the ancient town. The charm blended in well with the festival and went unnoticed to the masses that stared at the skies like mindless but cute little children. At the same time, Naruto acted as the masses did and stared at the skies and smiled while Harry sat back inside the mindscape and watched his little brother shine.

"Like I told him," he said as he sat back in an armchair, "Fantastic…"

Naruto smiled some more as the colors illuminated the field and dowsed him with warmth. But as the little blonde soldier stared as his creation and heard the loud booms out in the distance, he couldn't help but think about Haku and Zabuza. He liked to think that there was a chance he could have saved them both and convinced them to defect to Konoha. Had it all turned out well like it did in his dreams, he and Haku could be out in that same field and watch as the fireworks blasted and the colors he created swam across the skies and entertained the masses.

But soon, he tossed the thought aside and came to terms with the real world as he was still content in the knowledge that she had died as she had wanted and she was with her beloved master in the same skies he released those wondrous colors. In his mind, he was certain as his masked sensei was that those two souls were in complete and utter bliss with each other for all time. So Naruto smiled and created more fireworks of his own and blasted them into the air while his older brother watched him and smiled as well.

All in all, with Haku and Zabuza safe in the heavens, Iruka now knew of his secret and still cared for him, as well as the creation of his wand, and his teammates and sensei were all still alive and well, Naruto Ignotus Uzumaki was content.

* * *

><p><em>When you walk away<br>You don't hear me say,  
>"Please, oh baby, don't go."<br>Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight  
>It's hard to let it go<em>

_You're giving me too many things_  
><em>Lately, you're all I need.<em>  
><em>You smiled at me and said,<em>

_"Don't get me wrong, I love you,_  
><em>But does that mean I have to meet your father?"<em>  
><em>When we are older you'll understand<em>  
><em>What I meant when I said,<em>  
><em>"No, I don't think life is quite that simple"<em>

___When you walk away  
>You don't hear me say,<br>"Please, oh baby, don't go."  
>Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight<br>It's hard to let it go___

_The daily things that keep us all busy_  
><em>Are confusing me<em>  
><em>That's when you came to me and said,<em>

_"Wish I could prove I love you,_  
><em>But does that mean I have to walk on water?"<em>  
><em>When we are older you'll understand<em>  
><em>It's enough when I say so<em>  
><em>And maybe some things are that simple<em>

_When you walk away  
>You don't hear me say,<br>"Please, oh baby, don't go."  
>Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight<br>It's hard to let it go_

_Hold me  
>Whatever lies beyond this morning<br>Is a little later on  
>Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all<br>Nothing's like before_

__When you walk away  
>You don't hear me say,<br>"Please, oh baby, don't go."  
>Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight<br>It's hard to let it go__

__Hold me  
>Whatever lies beyond this morning<br>Is a little later on  
>Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all<br>Nothing's like before__

___Hold me  
>Whatever lies beyond this morning<br>Is a little later on  
>Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all<br>Nothing's like before___

* * *

><p><em>Meet me on the equinox <em>  
><em>Meet me halfway<em>  
><em>The sun is perched at its highest peak<em>  
><em>In the middle of the day<em>

_And let me give my love to you_  
><em>Let me take your hand<em>  
><em>And as we walk in the dimming light<em>  
><em>Oh darling understand<em>

_That everything_, e_verything ends_  
><em>That everything<em>, e_verything ends_

_Meet me on your best behavior_  
><em>Meet me at your worst<em>  
><em>For there will be no stone unturned<em>  
><em>Or bubble left to burst<em>  
><em>Let me lay beside you darling<em>  
><em>Let me be your man<em>  
><em>And let our bodies intertwine <em>  
><em>But always understand<em>

_That everything_, e_verything ends_  
><em>That everything<em>, e_verything ends_  
><em>That everything<em>, e_verything_, e_verything ends_

_A window_  
><em>An open tomb<em>  
><em>The sun crawls across your bedroom<em>  
><em>A halo<em>  
><em>A waning moon<em>  
><em>Your last breath moving through you<em>

_As everything, everything ends_  
><em>As everything, everything ends<em>  
><em>As everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything ends<em>

_Meet me on the equinox_  
><em>Meet me halfway<em>  
><em>The sun is perched at its highest peak<em>  
><em>In the middle of the day<em>

_And let me give my love to you_  
><em>Let me take your hand<em>  
><em>And as we walk in the dimming light<em>  
><em>Oh darling understand<em>  
><em>That everything<em>, e_verything ends..._

* * *

><p>End of Book Two<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Naruto, Harry and Iruka will return in Book 3, Naruto Uzumaki and the Chunin Exams. Also, the OC Hikaru-sensei is a little bit based on a character from Fullmetal Alchemist. Let's see if someone out there can figure out who I modeled him after.<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Songs Used in End:<strong>

Simple & Clean by Utada Hikaru (A tribute to the relationship between Haku and her master Zabuza Momochi, I believe it's a song that represents Haku well)

Meet Me On the Equinox by Death Cab For Cutie (A tribute to Naruto and Haku and the love that could have been)

* * *

><p><strong>Unused Songs:<strong>

Carrying You by Meja

Always Know Where You Are by John Rzeznik


End file.
